Southwest Airlines to Provide Support to Heart of Los Angeles

Online, September 24, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Southwest Airlines and Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) are proud to announce that Southwest Airlines will once again provide vital support to HOLA through the donation of roundtrip air travel. The donation will primarily be used to send low income students in HOLA's high school program on college visits around the country. The remaining tickets will be used to raise funds to support HOLA's programs.

The generous donation from Southwest Airlines is part of an ongoing relationship between the airline and HOLA. "Southwest Airlines is proud to continue our community partnership with HOLA," said Lidia S. Martinez, Southwest Airlines Manager of Community Affairs & Grassroots. "We're passionate about making a difference in what matters to our communities, and helping high school students visit colleges throughout the country is a great way for us to connect our Customers to what's important in their lives." With Southwest's support, HOLA has been able to take groups of high school juniors and seniors to visit colleges and universities all over the country, opening up a world of options for post-secondary education that they never before dreamed was possible. Students who have participated in the program are now attending schools up and down the East Coast, including Brown University, Wellesley College and Columbia University. "Southwest Airlines has been a committed partner for over 20 years. Southwest has not only offered trips across the country, but they've created opportunities for our students to better their lives," said HOLA's Executive Director Tony Brown.

Heart of Los Angeles
For more than two decades, Heart of Los Angeles has helped to transform our community by providing thousands of youth with free and exceptional programs in academics, arts and athletics, including a vibrant and growing visual arts department, a world-class youth orchestra program, a full college prep program and sports leagues. HOLA offers youth the opportunity to break the generational cycle of poverty and pursue their dreams. Although 90% of HOLA families live at or below the poverty line and graduation rates are persistently low in our neighborhood schools, this year 95% of the students who graduated from our high school program are now pursuing their post-secondary education at colleges nationwide. www.heartofla.org

Southwest Airlines
In its 43rd year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 45,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, and including wholly-owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways, operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world to serve 97 destinations in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and six near-international countries. Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for its triple bottom line approach that takes into account the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities it serves, and its commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2012 Southwest Airlines One Report™ can be found at southwest.com/citizenship.