Volunteer pilots plan Christmas gift flights for 3,000 Hawaiʻi children affected by parental incarceration

Aloha Aviators, a Honolulu-based nonprofit, plans to fly gifts and meals to about 3,000 children and teens across Hawaiʻi, including Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi, Dec. 8-24 through its Mele KEIKImaka campaign. The group says it has raised more than $30,000 in cash and in-kind donations toward the effort and is seeking more support before the flights begin. Delivery dates will depend on the weather.

Aloha Aviators says the campaign is aimed at keiki who have a parent in prison. The organization says nearly 4,000 Hawaiʻi children lose a parent to incarceration each year. It also said this year’s hurricanes have added hardship for families already struggling.

“These keiki are not asking for much: a mentor, a ride to see their mom, a reminder that they still belong,” said Nobi Buntin, the organization’s founder and president.

Aloha Aviators said Hawaiʻi has never set aside dedicated funding for these children and that the one federal program created to support them ended years ago. The group cited research it says shows that losing a parent to incarceration can affect a child as heavily as a parent’s death or divorce.

Student pilots at the controls

Most of the group’s volunteer pilots are current students or graduates of university aviation programs, including the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, San José State University and the University of Denver, according to the organization. One of its lead volunteers, a UH Hilo aviation graduate, flies as a captain for Kamaka Air in Honolulu.

Student mentees will fly alongside volunteer pilots and help with each stage of the trips, the group said. Their tasks include weight-and-balance calculations, weather checks, go/no-go decisions, air traffic control communication, and arranging fuel and landing fees with local operators.

Santa send-off in Honolulu

Aloha Aviators said “Santa Dan” will help load cargo at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and see the planes off to the Neighbor Islands. The group is partnering again with Pacific Flight Academy and the Professional Asian Pilots Association, both of which took part in its summer airlift to Molokaʻi. With support from the association and Southwest Airlines, mainland volunteers will travel to Honolulu to sort and load gifts, the organization said.

Kelma Lee Namakaeha, a retired social worker and the group’s frontline volunteer organizer, will identify children in need on each island, according to Aloha Aviators. Gifts will be sorted by island and by child, and ground crews will carry them from the airfield to each child’s door.

Molokaʻi airlift in July

The organization said it organized the Molokaʻi airlift in July after rising fuel costs halted barge service to the island and left grocery shelves bare. A Cessna 172 flown by volunteer pilot Laura Ivanova and a Cessna 208 Caravan provided by Pacific Flight Academy carried roughly 2,000 pounds of food, school supplies and animal provisions from Honolulu, the group said. The Caravan landed on Molokaʻi at 9 p.m., and a ground crew unloaded it in the dark.

Aloha Aviators held its first holiday campaign in 2020, according to the group. It said the Keiki Christmas Charity raised more than $10,000 in gifts, services and cash for more than 500 foster children and homeless teens. The group said this year’s goal is six times as many children.

How to help

Aloha Aviators is accepting monetary donations, gifts, supplies and volunteers. Details are at alohaaviators.com. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Kelma at 808-336-1585.

“We have the pilots, we have the planes, and we have Santa Dan ready to send us off,” Buntin said. “Now we need all of Hawaiʻi to help us fill the skies with aloha.”

Aloha Aviators was founded in 2020 and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. According to the organization, its volunteer pilots fly humanitarian missions delivering supplies to underserved communities, kūpuna and animal rescues across the United States and Mexico.