VFW Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Cory Geisler participated in the 15th annual Ron Davies Memorial VFW Air Lift in Centennial, Colorado, on Dec. 14, hosted by VFW Post 9644.
The event, which was born out of a love of aviation between Davies and his daughter, Brittany Davies, serves to give back to those in need, especially in rural communities, across the state of Colorado through the Rocky Mountain skies.
VFW Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Cory Geisler helps load donated food onto an aircraft at the 15th Ron Davies Memorial VFW Air Lift on Dec. 14 in Centennial, Colo. The event began out of a shared love of aviation between Ron Davies and his daughter Brittany, who saw the potential to easily donate to communities across the Rocky Mountain State. The Post collected a total of 13,500 pounds of food, clothing and Christmas toys. Planes flew into Centennial Airport, and Post members carried the donations on pallets to be loaded onto the planes.
Post members spent the day before weighing each individual donation and calculating the total weight for each pallet. Pallets were then designated to a particular aircraft to avoid overloading.
Planes then flew to various communities across Colorado, from Grand Junction to Fort Collins, where local VFW members in those locations met the pilot to help unload the donations.
“This is the entire message of the VFW,” Geisler said. “This shows that we can come together and that we don’t have to do things in a silo.”
According to Post 9644 Todd Van Sant, the Post voted unanimously to name the event the “Ron Davies Memorial VFW Air Lift” after Davies’ passing earlier this year.
Brittany is proud to continue the event, which is expected to grow next year, with more donations, more pilots and more locations.
“I know my father would be proud of how this event turned out,” Brittany said. “Aviation really can partner rural communities together.”
This article is featured in the 2025 December issue of Checkpoint. If you're a VFW member and don't currently receive the VFW Checkpoint, please contact VFW magazine at magazine@vfw.org.