A United Airlines flight filled with children took off from Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon bound for a destination few fliers ever visit: the North Pole.
The Starlight Children’s Foundation Colorado, which provides outings and activities for seriously ill children and their families, organized the trip for about 50 kids, a mix of seriously ill children and their siblings along with 10 children from a group that helps battered women.
Some of the children are fighting cancer; others are waiting for organ transplants.
“We have a lot of kids who have never been on a plane,” said Laurel Ris, director of operations at Starlight. “It is really a feel-good day.”
Excited children wearing bright-red T-shirts with the words, “We’re headed to the North Pole” hugged and kissed their parents before boarding a large, red Gray Line Bus and a smaller shuttle at National Jewish Health.
Anxieties about leaving moms and dads behind were outweighed by the excitement of getting to see Santa Claus, parents said.
“They have been abuzz about this trip for weeks,” said Bill Kilzer of Centennial.
Kilzer’s son Preston, 7, is battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer originating in white blood cells. He took the 30-minute flight with his sister Kayli, 5. The children ate Happy Meals and sang Christmas carols on the plane.
As the arriving Boeing 757 pulled into a cavernous hangar, Mr. and Mrs. Claus came down on a crane to greet the children and the volunteers accompanying them.
“It was a great day today,” said Preston Kilzer while watching a magic show.
The children decorated cookies, played with therapy dogs and received presents from Santa.
But Preston was puzzled by one thing.
“I thought the flight would be at least eight hours,” he said.
About 75 to 80 United employees and family members helped with the flight and party, said Rhonda Patterson, an organizer of the event.
They helped Santa find the gifts the children had requested and held a bowling fundraiser to buy the jet fuel needed for the flight. Cheerleaders from Ponderosa High School accompanied the kids.
For Eric Ellefson and Nichol Mattson, flying for their daughter Zaida, 5, usually means going to Houston to visit M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she undergoes treatment for ovarian cancer.
But on Saturday, getting on a plane with her sister Runa, 7, meant something entirely different — and a break for the Lafayette couple.
“We’ll go watch a movie,” Mattson said.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
![By FATIMA HUSSEIN (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians. The Treasury Department announcement comes as the West Bank […]](https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/US_Iran_Sanctions_97194_48d2e5.jpg?w=525 "By FATIMA HUSSEIN (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians. The Treasury Department announcement comes as the West Bank […]")
