If you’ve been on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube recently, you’ve probably seen countless videos of friends, family, celebrities, athletes, and even politicians participating in this phenomenon called the Ice Bucket Challenge.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is a viral social media campaign, benefiting the ALS Association. The concept is simple. Pour a bucket of ice water on your head or donate to the ALS Foundation within 24 hours. Of course, many folks choose to do both.
Our Sr. Vice President Culture and Communications, Ginger Hardage, responded on behalf of Southwest Airlines to a challenge we received from JetBlue’s Chief Marketing Officer, Marty St. George. Ginger took the Ice Bucket Challenge and made a monetary donation to the ALS Foundation and Ronald McDonald House charities on behalf of Southwest Airlines.
Since then, we’ve seen many Employees take the Ice Bucket Challenge and challenge our Leaders to do the same. We applaud all of your efforts supporting this charitable cause, and encourage you to keep up the good work!
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Whether fighting fires, serving meals to the homeless, or rebuilding homes, our Employees are lending hands to make a positive difference. They battle in court on behalf of abuse victims unable to defend themselves; provide relief for the homeless; food for the hungry; comfort for the abandoned; and love to the abused. But, most of all, they give hope. Once a year, Southwest takes the time to honor and thank those Employees who have gone above and beyond in making a positive difference in their communities during our annual Volunteers of LUV event. This year, we received more than 400 nominations from both our Employees and nonprofits for the award. Twenty-one of our Employees stood out amongst the rest. Out of the 139,000 hours Southwest Airlines Employees volunteered last year, this group of 21 Employees volunteered a combined 5,000 hours. That’s enough time to fly between New York and Los Angeles 833 times! These 21 Employees support Southwest Airlines in the air and on the ground. But, beyond Southwest Employees, they are also heroes in our communities and examples to their fellow co-workers. Our Servants’ Hearts beat strong at Southwest Airlines. Our Culture of doing the right thing begins with our Employees and extends into our communities. And, it always comes from the heart. How are you making a difference in your community?
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Recently, B’nai B’rith honored Southwest Airlines and our Chairman, President, and CEO, Gary Kelly with their annual Distinguished Achievement Award recognizing our commitment to industry innovation, community service, diversity education, and philanthropic leadership. B’nai B’rith, a humanitarian organization founded in 1843, is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world through programs focused on the elderly, youth education, community service, tolerance, and disaster relief. Through their annual award, they seek to recognize and encourage corporate leaders to continue the efforts of assisting those in need – a natural inclination for Southwest, but not for all others. Dan Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith, was eloquent in his comments on Gary and Southwest, recognizing our citizenship as an extension of our famous Customer Service. With a shared focus on Disaster Preparedness, the evening was also a fund-raiser for the efforts of B’nai in Haiti where they continue to help people get back on their feet. Our own Herb Kelleher gave the keynote speech recognizing Gary’s incredible leadership during these tough economic times and acknowledging his support of continuing to give back to our communities as the right thing to do. In a small world moment, the evening master of ceremonies was Seth Rikland, a diehard Southwest fan and A-Lister who also happens to have gone to high school in San Antonio with Gary. Seth even played football with Gary! The evening was a wonderful tribute to all that Southwest does and to our incredible leader, Gary Kelly. In accepting the award, Gary paid tribute to all the Southwest Employees who make it possible for Southwest to remain such a strong Company, delivering wonderful Customer Service to our Customers and to our communities through all your volunteer and giving efforts.
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12-22-2009
11:28 AM
594 Loves
Everyone knows how the People of Southwest LUV our Customers and take great care of them on the planes, in the airport, and on the telephone. What you might not know, but would expect, is that same care and love extends beyond our Customers to our Communities. We hire People who care, so it stands to reason that they would also want to help the communities where they live and work. At Southwest, we call this Share the Spirit, a program where we give back to communities through our charitable giving, Employee volunteerism, and community programs. This weekend, we are thrilled to show you just a few of our wonderful Employees doing what comes naturally, giving back. So during your football watching parties, keep an eye out for some new Southwest spots that feature Southwest Employees in action. As the spots point out, while our People might work as Flight Attendants, Pilots, or Mechanics; who they really are is seen when they are away from Southwest as volunteers who help families with seriously ill children, travel companions for World War II Veterans traveling to the Memorial for the first time, or mentors in the fifth-grade classrooms. It was a thrill to work on this project and learn all that our Employees do to help the people in their communities. The variety of their interests and time they put in is simply amazing. We featured some of their stories in a print ad in Spirit magazine last month and now have the ads to showcase their care. The stories were so wonderful that we wanted to let you see the full story so we created this video which highlights these incredible Employees sharing their story of why they do what they do. While these stories follow the areas where Southwest is focused as a Company, our Employees work on many other issues and causes to truly make a positive difference. But the amazing thing is how much they will each tell you that they get back. So while you watch this video, please think about how you can reach out and help others. It only takes one person to make a difference and you will get far more back than you give!
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The house is beautiful and the party was amazing. It is such an honor to be part of this festive time for Dallas RMH as they unveil the new house which will allow them to help so many more people. I know they have a special place in their heart for Southwest, and we certainly have a special place in ours for them. Thank you for sharing, Michele.
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It has been great fun being on the Green Team and helping to support our company's initaitives to be "greener." I have learned so much that I would not normally have learned about the effects of commuting or ideas for the office and home to be more environmentally friendly. And I LUV hearing about all the grassroot efforts being done by all our great, green Employees, just because they have a passion and decide to do the green thing! That is where the idea came for our Spring Volunteer project, S.A.V. E. (Serious About Volunteering for the Environment). This company-wide project encourages our Employees to do something in their hometown to show we are committed to helping our Planet. It will be exciting to see what all our inventive Employees do. But more on that later, I am sure....
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05-29-2008
07:22 AM
778 Loves
A recent Monday was the kind of day that reminds you of the good in the world and the kind of people that Southwest Airlines hires. We held our second annual “Volunteers of LUV” ceremony where we honored 23 of our fellow Employees for the amazing work that they do in their communities by adding their names to our wall honoring volunteers. These people personify the saying, “Never underestimate the power of one person to make a difference.” Each story was more spectacular than the next. One recipient, Sarita Zouvas, has started Isabella’s Gift, a charity to raise money to fight cancer in children after losing her own four-year-old daughter to cancer. One of our Pilots runs an all volunteer organization, Snowball Express, that raises money and donations to take families of fallen soldiers of Iraq to Southern California for an unforgettable, all expenses paid weekend of fun. For many of these families, it is the first time that they have met someone else who has experienced the same lose of a mother or father in the war. Last year, 400 families traveled from across the United States to enjoy Disney, parties, and fellowship. Other recipients have collected money or volunteers to support many other charities such as Special Olympics or Ronald McDonald House. One gentleman takes his dog out to visit and entertain patients. It was an inspiring hour of stories and a great honor to celebrate these heroes disguised as ordinary people. You can see in their eyes that they didn’t do it to be recognized or honored, but just because they want to do their part to make a difference and to give back. We are very proud of our Volunteers of LUV and hope they keep up the great work and continue to inspire the rest of us to do our part too.
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