Angel Flight West, a nonprofit group dedicated to providing air transportation to those with medical needs, returns to the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport on Sept. 28 to host its seventh annual Run for the Angels 5K.

The family-friendly run, which includes a 5K and a fun run for younger supporters, will raise funds for the California-based organization that’s made up of volunteer pilots who transport patients “bedside-to-bedside,” free of charge, for medical care.

Volunteer pilot Kosta Constantine, who has been working with Angel Flight for four years, said one of his first trips was flying Itzy Herrera, a young girl with leukemia, from Kansas to her monthly treatments in Denver.

“I read that this little girl, only 3 years old, had leukemia and was seeking transport into Denver to the children’s hospital for her monthly treatments,” Kosta Constantine said. “I felt very deeply that we had to help her.”

Constantine added: “We got assigned that first trip (with Itzy) and never looked back.”

Itzy’s mother, Mirna Herrera, remembers Itzy having a persistent fever and an ongoing feeling that something was wrong. After a multitude of tests at their small local hospital in Kansas, her doctor said Itzy needed to be seen in the emergency room immediately.

“That’s when he said they thought she had leukemia, and my world turned upside down,” Herrera said.

Herrera said that her family lives about four hours outside of Denver, and with Itzy’s appointments so close together, driving back and forth quickly became another burden on top of the family’s situation.

“Angel Flight was just perfect … I call the pilots ‘angel pilots’ because that’s what they are, they were there for us when we were at our lowest,” she said.

Since her diagnosis, Itzy has flown with Angel Flight 49 times. Of the total, 24 of those flights were with Constantine, who Herrera said has become part of their family.

“He’s been with us through the whole thing, through the whole journey,” Herrera said. “He got to come to the bell-ringing in February this year and he comes to all her birthday parties.”

The bell ringing, which Itzy completed this year at 6 years old, signified the end of her cancer treatment and a celebration of being cancer-free. She still has check-ups to maintain her condition, and Constantine is there for every one of them.

“Every three months I’ll send him the schedule, and Angel Flight sets it all up for us,” Herrera said.

The annual 5K on Sept. 28 offers Angel Flight an opportunity to tell the stories of people, like Itzy, and to spread awareness about their mission to deliver health and hope with donated flights. Last year’s run raised enough funds to arrange nearly 100 flights for people in need, according to a release.

“It’s really meaningful for us to raise that money and to see what it means to people and their families,” said Marty Droze, who works at HDR Inc.

A partner with Angel Flight West, HDR — a Denver-based design and engineering company — presents the event each year at the airport, 11755 Airport Way, Broomfield. For Droze and his colleagues, the last eight years hosting the race has been an exercise in gratitude.

“It’s a great event and just a great way to put a little bit of good out there in the world,” Droze said. “We look forward to putting it on every year, we get really excited.”

Registration for the event is still open, with more information at angelflightwest.org/5k.

“We play a very small part in these medical treatment requirements, but we’re so happy to help and to be just a little part of their success towards regaining total health,” Constantine said.