Share the Spirit

Southwest Airlines announced it is partnering with The Salvation Army to donate items that are lost or misplaced in the gate area or on flights and are not claimed after multiple attempts to reunite the items with their owners so the nonprofit agency can sell them in their Metroplex area thrift stores to benefit its programs and services. Thousands of coats, books, cell phones, gloves, and various other items are being donated monthly to The Salvation Army for their local Dallas/Fort Worth Salvation Army facilities.

Southwest Airlines Employees in the Technology department played golf and raised money for Caden Ledbetter, a young boy in the fourth stage of neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. Caden received a stem cell transplant in December 2007 and his body is now rejecting the transplant.

Southwest Employees danced down the runway to raised funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of North Texas. Carmen Allen, Barak Foy, Aretha Maxwell, Rhonda Y Jones and Jackie Douglas participated in Movin 107.5 FM's Evolution Fashion Show, “50 Years of Fashion, 50 Years of Hope,” on March 22.

Southwest Employees, Finance Payroll, greeted U.S. Military men and women at the DFW Airport on Saturday morning, March 6. The Employees welcomed the troops home and thanked them for serving our country.

Southwest Airlines Employee Paula Drabek spearheaded a headquarters-wide Easter Basket drive benefiting the Dallas Ronald McDonald House and Children's Medical Center of Dallas. SWA Employees contributed to a total of 419 baskets that were delivered to the children for Easter.

Southwest Airlines Provisioning and Ground Operations departments volunteered time and funds to support the sixth annual Red Shoe Ball benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California. This black tie event, on March 15, raised approximately $65,000 to help the children and families served at the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House and Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake .