August 29, 20020

By Jeanné Willerth

Area pilots responded to the devastating August 10 Derecho storm in Iowa by collecting and delivering supplies for those in need.

Last week a Kansas City area church collected donations of coolers, tarps, extension cords, paper towels, diapers and other necessities. A plea went out on the KC Aviators Facebook page for help with transportation. Volunteer pilots from the group stepped forward to help ferry donations.

On Monday, August 17, two planes carried these supplies to Marion, Iowa, one of the hardest hit areas. Flying out of Lee’s Summit airport, pilots Sean Mollet and Jeanné Willerth flew over 700 pounds of supplies in his twin engine Beechcraft Baron.

A week later, many Iowa residents were still without power and a place to live. An area pilot, Rodney Tuggle, organized more donations and recruited 5 pilots to each make a flight to Marion. This time hundreds of pounds of charcoal were taken along with tents, more tarps, baby formula, flashlights and other emergency gear. Those 5 flights were made Monday, August 24.

Two flights left from Lee’s Summit Airport with pilots Jeanné Willerth flying a Cessna 182 and Mitch Putnam flying a Beechcraft Debonair. They took 700 pounds of donations. The other three flights left from Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe carrying the remaining donations.

As they flew various controllers commented on the flights, and Phothanked the pilots.

If you would like to help visit: https://iowastormhelp.com/.