An aviation school in Wayne County is distributing toy donations by airplanes to kids impacted by Helene in western North Carolina for the holiday season. The initiative first started after staff from "" sent supplies to families affected by the storm. The school's owner, Christina Sargent, calls this new effort "Operation Toy Airdrop."
"We have three planes that are under our school," she said. "We fill up the planes. We have everything weighted beforehand. We try to keep two pilots in each plane, and then we fly out to whichever airport we're going to. We drop off the presents and then agencies in the area have a ground operation that then distributes the presents."
So far, they have helped more than 300 kids in Ashe County. Sargent said her goal is for this to be an annual tradition.
"I would like to see us be able to choose a certain demographic every year," she said. "I think maybe perhaps Wayne County next year, we'll help the kids here, and the year after, we'll choose somebody else."
Meanwhile, Sargent said they are expected to donate toys to about 2,000 kids next week in Asheville.
