OPERATION AIRLIFT GIFT

LINCOLN COUNTY, NC

COMBINED OPERATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN IN HURRICANE AFFLICTED WESTERN NC

11.12.2024

Lincoln County North Carolina participated in a successful heartwarming event with a touch of history this past Veterans Day as Operation Air Gift, a toy drive for the children who endured the wrath of Hurricane Helene.  As the City of Asheville and Buncombe County began to recover with all schools closed for almost three weeks and a death toll near 100 as well as thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, the flood of relief supplies by people around the country filled the warehouses with life’s essentials and clothing.

State Senator Ted Alexander recognized that adults and family needs were being met by these contributions, but what about the youngsters? Many of them lost everything too. He recalled a speech by BARA president Eddie Ide at a Rotary Club meeting in the Lincolnton area in 2017 about the Berlin Airlift. Ted had one of the books about the C-54 “Spirit of Freedom”. He called Tim Chopp, President of the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation and asked if it was possible to fly a relief mission to Asheville. He suggested perhaps we could collect toys for children, providing something that would give them a reason to smile again.

Less than an hour later Tim phoned Eddie who was in Las Vegas at the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association (BAVA) and the Burtonwood Association combined Reunion.  In his scheduled morning talk he included a brief about the flood, drawing on his life experiences in Pennsylvania, where he had volunteered during two major floods. As he finished the speech members were handing him money to help the flood victims that he gave directly to BAVA President Ralph Dionne.

After returning home to NC Ed started making contacts about relief supplies as Tim began the quest for funding.  They finalized on running the mission from the Lincoln County Airport on Veterans Day November 11th with the approval from the Airport Board of Directors. The Chairman of the County Commissioners was in attendance and offered to arrange for donation sites in the county.

This event was an opportunity for the community to contribute to a worthy relief cause while learning about a significant chapter in global history aboard the C-54 “Spirit of Freedom”.  This plane was flown during the Berlin Airlift of 1948 & ’49 and is now a traveling Berlin Airlift museum. On Monday and Tuesday, November 11th & 12th, people visited the “Spirit of Freedom” bringing new wrapped gifts. One lady arrived with her SUV loaded with 50 backpacks, each one filled from a “gofundme” page she ran with help from her friends.

With the lower cargo compartments stuffed the brim with large plastic bags of toys and large boxes in the plane it launched from Lincoln County Airport and arrived in Asheville about 3 p.m.  The crew were greeted by 15 members of the Marine Corp League ”Toys for Tots” program who were assigned to distribution of the toys to children before Thanksgiving.

The C-54 is that was flown is owned and flown by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation, a non- profit Educational Foundation based in Toms River NJ. This operation was made possible with the support of the Lincoln County Government, the Asheville and Concord Regional airports plus the Marine Corp League “Toys for Tots” volunteers.

Financial support for the flight was provided by the following organizations and their members; Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, the Burtonwood Association (U.K.), The Airlift Tanker Association, and The Candy Bomber Foundation in Utah.

This was more than just a symbolic flight, as the contributions of support came from veteran members who have experienced trauma and fear first-hand, similar to what the children in western North Carolina experienced during Hurricane Helene.

3 Comments

  1. Barbara villalpando

    Thank you Ed

    Reply
  2. John Offerman

    Awesome Mission!

    Reply
  3. Carol T Farmer

    Beautiful! Thank you for your kindnesses.

    Reply

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