in theChristmas / GIVING BACK / Nation Pilots deliver a 'mountain of donations' to the Navajo reservation BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE I T COMES WI THOUT ribbons, it comes without bows, in fact it comes in pretty bleak packaging-trash bags-but its value and meaning capture everything the Christmas spirit holds. More than 55 pilots delivered a whopping 14,000 pounds of food, dry goods, blankets, toys, coats, and clothing to the people of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico last Christmas. The thirty-seventh annual Navajo Christmas Airlift was organized by pilot Gregory McColley in honor of his parents Richard and Betty McColley, who started the airlift in 1984. 58 AOPA PILOT / December 2022