Cradle Cargo Mission Flight #3:

Sheboygan Falls, WI → Frisco, TX

Mission Date: 7-23-2026
Pilot: Drew Laughlin and Alex Graf
Aircraft: Cirrus SR22T
Cargo: 1 Box
Miles Flown: 773
Flight Time: 4.5

Hospitals Reached: 1
Grieving Families Served: 30

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Meet the Pilots: Drew Laughlin and Alex Graf

Alex Graf and Drew Laughlin are Texas-based pilots involved with the Aetos Aviation Network, a faith-based community that brings together people through a shared passion for aviation. Ashley met Alex and Drew at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, where a chance encounter and conversation about faith, aviation, and serving others led them to become some of the earliest pilots to join the Cradle Cargo mission.

Alex has been flying since 2022 and professionally flies medical missions supporting organ transplant transportation, allowing him to use his aviation skills to serve people during critical moments. That same desire to use his God-given abilities to help others made Cradle Cargo a natural fit.

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The Mission

Sometimes the most important connections aren’t planned.

While attending EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Ashley happened to cross paths with Alex Graf, Drew Laughlin, and Pierce Ahart outside the tent of a faith-based aviation organization they were all visiting. The three pilots were part of the Aetos Aviation Network, founded by Pierce, and what began as a chance encounter quickly became a conversation about faith, aviation, and using airplanes to serve others.

Alex and Drew, who are based in the Dallas area, offered to carry cradles home to Texas on their return flight from Oshkosh. Pierce, based in Austin, would later take part in Cradle Cargo missions of his own—carrying cradles from Wichita to hospitals in Austin and Houston. What seemed like a chance meeting at Oshkosh became the beginning of a partnership that would help carry hope to families across Texas.

When Alex heard about Cradle Cargo and the families the ministry serves, the mission immediately resonated with him.

“The mission and the passion of this fits my desire to serve this world!” — Alex Graf

Alex and Drew offered to make room for boxes of cradles on their flight home to Texas. The cargo that Kelly Nimmo-Guenther had originally flown from Wichita to Wisconsin was loaded once again—this time beginning its journey south from Oshkosh to Frisco.

After arriving in Texas, Alex and Drew didn’t simply unload the boxes at the airport. They completed the mission themselves, hand-delivering the cradles and bereavement resources to Texas Health Frisco, where they would be available to hospital staff caring for families experiencing pregnancy loss.

For Alex, it was the first delivery of what he hoped would be many.

“First delivery of hopefully many after meeting Ashley Opliger at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Her mission was greatly inspiring to help those who need comforting the most in life, and I can’t wait to help where I can to be a small part of this great mission!” — Alex Graf

That chance meeting outside a tent at Oshkosh didn’t end with one delivery. It opened the door to a growing partnership between Cradle Cargo and the Aetos Aviation Network. Soon afterward, Pierce would bring another load of cradles from Wichita to Texas aboard a business jet, helping reach hospitals in Austin and Houston. And Drew Laughlin would later be diverted to Wichita in a Vision Jet, leading to missions to Texas and Tennessee.

Mission #3: 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.