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Southwest Airlines Donates $300,000 in Travel to Help Make-A-Wish Foundation® Grant Wishes

Dépèche transmise le 28 janvier 2011 par Business Wire

Southwest Airlines Donates $300,000 in Travel to Help Make-A-Wish Foundation® Grant Wishes

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southwest Airlines has contributed $300,000 in travel to the Make-A-Wish Foundation thanks to Southwest customers who participated in a Facebook Places promotion. The donation will assist the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions – nearly 70 percent of its wishes include travel to the children’s wish destination.

“This unique alliance was a great way to engage Southwest customers by providing them the opportunity to support children with life-threatening medical conditions who travel for their wishes”

“Providing complimentary travel to the Make-A-Wish Foundation is a natural extension of our company’s commitment to families facing serious illness,” said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Communication and Strategic Outreach. “Often, these children are burdened with worry and circumstances that many of us will never experience in a lifetime, and we are proud to support the Foundation’s mission to grant the wishes of these brave kids.”

The donation was generated by an alliance between Facebook Places and Southwest Airlines. Through the alliance, Southwest Airlines offered the Make-A-Wish Foundation $1 in travel each time a customer used Facebook Places to check in at any of Southwest Airlines' 69 airports from Nov. 26-Jan. 8.

“This unique alliance was a great way to engage Southwest customers by providing them the opportunity to support children with life-threatening medical conditions who travel for their wishes,” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer. “We thank Southwest Airlines and its customers in helping us provide a critical need for our wish-granting efforts and bringing much-needed joy to wish families.”

The alliance marked the first venture of its kind for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Southwest Airlines. To read a blog post on this announcement, visit www.blogsouthwest.com.

About Southwest Airlines

After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers – offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states with service to Charleston and Greenville-Spartanburg beginning March 13, 2011, and service to Newark Liberty International beginning March 27, 2011. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest Airlines is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, with 64 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 200,000 wishes in the United States since its inception. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish^®.