LAS VEGAS, Aug. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allegiant (Nasdaq:ALGT) announced today that it will be supporting Make-A-Wish by helping grant wishes to kids with life-threatening medical conditions. The company has named Make-A-Wish its primary charity.
Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the U.S. every 38 minutes, and approximately three out of every four wishes involve travel, falling into the "I wish to go..." category. Allegiant has committed its resources to helping make travel wishes come true.
"Allegiant is proud to support Make-A-Wish as the focus of its charitable outreach," said Brian Davis, Director of Communications for Allegiant. "The wish kids and their families are such an inspiration. It was great to see how positively the company and its employees embraced this first effort in granting a travel wish, which is our specialty. We expect to grant a number of these wishes as part of our new relationship with Make-A-Wish."
To kick off this new alliance, Allegiant employees raised money to help grant wish kid Jamie's wish to go to the Florida theme parks. In addition, the company will donate air travel for Jamie and his family and throw a send-off party for them at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) on August 25.
"We are happy to have Allegiant join us in granting the wishes of these children throughout its vast network." said David A. Williams, president and chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish America. "This gives children the opportunity to travel and make their wishes come true while spending quality time with their families. We are excited to work with Allegiant in creating life-changing experiences."
Allegiant will donate wish travel on Allegiant to wish kids and their families in communities throughout its network. With service from more than 80 communities to popular family vacation destination such as Orlando, Southern California and Hawaii, Allegiant is looking forward to helping grant many travel wishes.
Allegiant, Travel is our deal.®
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Company® (Nasdaq:ALGT) is focused on linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations. Through its subsidiary, Allegiant Air, the company operates a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline, and offers other travel-related products such as hotel rooms, rental cars, and attraction tickets through its website, allegiant.com. The company was ranked ninth in the 2011 Forbes "Best Small Companies" list. Allegiant was also recently named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Fastest-Growing Companies" for the second consecutive year.
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About Make-A-Wish
Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true can have positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illnesses, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Based in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world's leading children's charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 38 minutes. It has granted more than 212,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; nearly 14,000 in 2011 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at wish.org and discover how you can Share the Power of a Wish®.