Cradle Cargo Mission Flight #2:

Janesville, WI → Oshkosh, WI

Mission Date: 7-19-2026
Pilot: Kelly Nimmo-Guenther
Aircraft: Cirrus SR22T
Cargo: 1 Box for Appleton, WI hospital + 7 boxes for pilots to take home
Miles Flown: 85
Flight Time: 1.5

Hospitals Reached: 1
Grieving Families Served: 50

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Meet the Pilot: Kelly Nimmo-Guenther

Kelly Nimmo-Guenther is a Colorado native, mother of two daughters, and wife to a supportive husband who has returned to her roots in the Rocky Mountain West. A Cirrus SR22T pilot, COPA Board member, and lifelong aviation enthusiast, her flying journey began as a skydiver with Aggies Over Texas at Texas A&M University.

After a career as a Partner at a worldwide consulting firm specializing in business strategy, process design, and technology solutions for Fortune 100/500 clients, she founded and led two nonprofit organizations for over a decade. Today, Kelly combines her professional expertise and nonprofit leadership with her passion for aviation, holding both a private pilot’s license and instrument rating. She is committed to lifelong learning and a career of service.

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The Mission

Missed the First Flight?

This story picks up where Cradle Cargo Mission #001 left off. Before arriving in Oshkosh, Ashley joined pilot Kelly Nimmo-Guenther aboard her Cirrus for Cradle Cargo’s inaugural flight from Wichita to Janesville, Wisconsin—delivering cradles to two hospitals along the way.

Start with Mission #001: Cradle Cargo Takes Flight →

Destination: Oshkosh

From Janesville, Kelly and Ashley continued to their intended destination: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. They arrived as part of the COPA mass arrival, joining a formation of Cirrus aircraft flying together into Oshkosh—an unforgettable way to arrive at what is often called the world’s greatest aviation celebration.

Each summer, EAA AirVenture transforms Oshkosh, Wisconsin, into the center of the aviation world. More than 10,000 aircraft fly into the area for the weeklong gathering, which draws hundreds of thousands of pilots, aviation professionals, exhibitors, and enthusiasts from around the world.

For Cradle Cargo, Oshkosh was an opportunity to listen, learn, and make connections. Ashley and Kelly spent the week networking throughout the aviation community, attending COPA events, meeting pilots and aviation organizations, and sharing the vision for using flights already being flown to help Bridget’s Cradles reach more hospitals across the country.

The cradles they had carried from Wichita continued their journey, too. While in the Oshkosh area, Ashley delivered cradles and bereavement resources to Ascension NE Wisconsin – St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, putting another portion of their cargo directly into the hands of hospital staff caring for grieving families.

But some of the boxes that arrived from Wichita weren’t meant to stay in Wisconsin. They had been brought to Oshkosh with another purpose: to find pilots who could carry them home.

And during the week, that is exactly what began to happen.

Carrying the Mission Home

Some of the most exciting moments of the week came when the original idea behind the trip began unfolding exactly as Ashley and Kelly had hoped. The boxes that had traveled from Wichita to Oshkosh started leaving Wisconsin aboard airplanes headed in different directions across the country.

Pilots stepped forward to make room for Cradle Cargo on their flights home. Megan Vande Voort carried cradles back to Iowa, while Helena loaded boxes into her Cirrus for the journey to Montana. Drew Laughlin and Alex Graf, connected through the Aetos Aviation Network, carried Cradle Cargo south toward Dallas. Patrick LarreaTegui loaded cradles into his Bonanza bound for Ohio, and Rolf Wallin made room aboard his Cessna 182 to carry cradles home to North Carolina.

Each pilot was headed somewhere different, but every box had the same destination in mind: a hospital where a family experiencing pregnancy loss would someday need it.

For Ashley, it was the first proof of concept for Cradle Cargo. Pilots didn’t necessarily need to make a special trip or dramatically alter their flight plans to make an impact. Sometimes, they simply needed to have an open seat or a little extra room in the baggage compartment—and be willing to carry hope along with them.

The networking and scouting mission had become something more. Cradle Cargo was no longer just an idea. It was a growing network of pilots carrying the mission home.

Mission #2: Complete.

Cradle Cargo is an aviation initiative of Bridget’s Cradles that mobilizes volunteer pilots to carry handmade cradles and bereavement resources to hospitals across the country. By utilizing flights pilots are already making—and available cargo space that might otherwise fly empty—Cradle Cargo helps us reach more hospitals faster while giving the aviation community a meaningful way to serve grieving families. From takeoff to final delivery, every mission carries one important cargo: hope.

Learn more at CradleCargo.com.