We are proud to call Southwest Airlines the Official Airline of The Mission Continues—a national nonprofit that empowers veterans to serve our country in new ways. From providing excellent service booking flights for hundreds of veterans to participate in our program, to allowing staff members to “take over the microphone” during flight to share about our program, to showing up in cities all over the country at our community service projects—there is no shortage of Southwest LUV!
For the tenth time in two and a half years, post 9/11 veterans from across the country boarded Southwest Airlines planes destined for The Mission Continues Fellowship orientation weekend. Fellows give 20 hours of service a week for 26 weeks at local nonprofit organizations. They are each encouraged to handpick a nonprofit organization based on their own personal passions. Current and alumni Fellows have worked at organizations that address issues ranging from disaster preparedness to education for low-income youth to training service dogs for wounded veterans. These host organizations include Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Before beginning the fellowship, Fellows attend a three-day Fellowship Orientation, joining other post-9/11 veterans from their Fellowship Class for a weekend of training, service, and camaraderie. Upon returning home from orientation, Fellows officially begin their fellowships at their host organizations. Throughout the fellowship, each Fellow will have the opportunity to lead a community service project, share their story with others, and inspire their community to take action.
At the airport and in the sky, our veterans, who are excited to start their Fellowship with The Mission Continues, are greeted with smiles and high fives from Southwest Agents and Flight Attendants—all critical partners in making these events possible.
On recent flights to and from our orientation, I received numerous notes from Fellows about the above-and-beyond service they received on their flights. Here are a few of those notes:
“Peggy on our flight from Chicago to DC was awesome—she had everyone laughing during her pre-flight announcements.” “Katie on my flight back to LA was jamming with me to Dr. Dre, which was unexpectedly awesome.”Southwest Crewmembers have even asked to be a part of our team photos!
