Farmington Teen Helps with Operation Good Cheer

A Farmington teen hopped a plane earlier this month to help bring presents to children in foster care in Adrian, MI. 

Grant Brower, 15, flew with pilot and family friend Tor Shwayder as part of Operation Good Cheer, a volunteer program sponsored and coordinated by Child and Family Services, Inc. of Michigan. This year, more than 4,580 children and youth across Michigan received gifts.

Brower, who attends , said that he and Shwayder took off from Flint and landed at the Oakland International Airport in Waterford, where truckloads of gifts were waiting. Each pilot was assigned to a different city or county, he said, and when they flew to their destinations, they unloaded gifts into trucks for delivery to the recipients. 

The flight only took about 15 minutes, but Brower said he really enjoyed it.

"It's kind of cool, the freedom in the air," he said. "You have all the open sky to fly." 

Shwayder was among the 185 pilots who made 200 flights to deliver gifts that were hauled by 17 transport drivers to Operation Good Cheer destinations Dec. 2-3. In all, more than 300 volunteers participated.