Delta Employees Support American Cancer Society With Relay For Life Events

"Delta Day of Hope" organizes relay events in seven U.S. airports

News provided by

May 11, 2011, 01:46 ET

ATLANTA, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) employees have coordinated the "Delta Day of Hope" Thursday, May 12 with Relay For Life events inside seven airports Delta serves including Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville, Fla., Memphis, Tenn., Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK and Seattle. The relays aim to raise money to fight all forms of cancer. Delta also is donating $1 to the American Cancer Society for every Flight Delights snack box sold during the month of May.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )

"Delta people have already raised more than $2 million this year in the fight against cancer, and we hope to raise even more during the relays," said Gil West, Delta's senior vice president – Airport Customer Service and executive sponsor of Delta's work with the American Cancer Society. "It's thrilling to see how engaged and energized our employees are about giving back to their communities in such a unique way."

In 2010, Delta employees in Minneapolis-St. Paul held the first airport Relay For Life event and raised more than $80,000. With the expansion to six more airports, almost 800 employees will participate in the relays this year.

"Delta has been a valued corporate partner of the American Cancer Society for more than 10 years, and we are excited this year to grow that relationship across the country and around the world," said Terry Music, American Cancer Society's chief mission delivery officer. "We thank Delta for its strong, continued support of our work, and our mission to fight cancer in every community and to eliminate cancer as a major health threat around the world."

Delta employees support the American Cancer Society in many ways. More than 500 Delta employees, family members and friends were part of an estimated 2,000 supporters who participated in the Fayette County, Ga. Relay For Life in late April, raising more than $13,000. Delta and its employees also are raising money through an online auction and a competitive jet pull. In addition to Relay For Life events in the U.S., Delta employees also have held relays in Soweta, South Africa and Chiba, Japan.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation's largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

About Delta

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 346 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.