Santa has a lot of help - a half dozen boy scouts and a handful of volunteer pilots.

They all gathered at Salt Lake City Airport number two in West Jordan to get ready for an early Christmas delivery to disadvantaged students at an elementary school in Wendover.

The  scouts have collected a lot of supplies. Bag after bag of paper, binders, coats, toys and blankets are loaded into airplanes. Then like some type of military air drill - one after another, the planes propellers begin to whirl and the small planes take off into the cold, clear morning sky. Eleven planes are making the trip by air and a handful of cars are taking supplies by road.
The scouts approached neighbors and people in their church wards for help collecting the items that the Wendover students needed. Preston Brightwell says the response was amazing.

And the generosity didn’t stop there. Pilots, many associated with the charitable organization Angel Flight, like Steve Bollinger, were there to transport the goods. And who could forget about Santa and Mrs. Claus? – AKA David and Marilee Stringham. When their plane landed in Wendover they joyfully jumped into character, delighting the 70 or so students who came to greet them.

Santa and the Scouts then made their way to Anna Smith Elementary to greet all the students and deliver their donations. While Santa was the star attraction, the students and their teachers showed their appreciation for the scout’s hard work and soft hearts.

The donations, delivered by everyone involved,  nearly filled up an empty classroom with blankets, basketballs, paper, and books. Heather Castagno, a teacher at Anna Smith Elementary spoke for the school. She said so many students needed coats and now they will get one. And she told me about a family that had humbly asked for blankets and now they too will get that too.