ST. LOUIS, MO., June 9, 2014… For 3-year-old Sophia from Edwardsville, Ill., who was born with Trisomy 18 (Edward Syndrome), June 8th proved to be a pretty magical day. Recipient of the latest wish trip to be granted by Allegiant and Make-A-Wish, Sophia and her family were the VIP guests at a special sendoff celebration hosted by MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. (CMT), as they prepared to depart on an Allegiant flight to Orlando for a magical wish experience.
CMT, a Springfield, Ill.-based business with locations in St. Louis and southern Illinois, heard about Sophia’s story and stepped up to ensure that her sendoff was as magical as her wish trip. CMT is a long-time supporter of the Make-A-Wish organization, so being a part of Sophia’s wish was a natural fit for the company. Together with MidAmerica, they were able to provide the family with the full “red carpet” treatment at the airport. Sophia and her family were greeted upon arrival by a long red carpet lined with balloons and a personal assistant was on hand to escort them through check-in to their gate, in order to ensure that all of their needs were met. The family received gift bags, including T-shirts, toys, autograph books, photo albums, gift cards and more. To truly make Sophia feel special, she also received a portable DVD player and one of her favorite movies to watch during the flight.
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Representatives from Allegiant, Make-A-Wish, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and CMT were at the airport to share this moment with Sophia and her family.
“We wanted to show our support for Sophia and her family and make them feel special,” stated Tim Cantwell, Director at MidAmerica Airport. “We were delighted to host them and I applaud CMT for stepping up and adding the red carpet touches that helped to ensure this special journey got off on a memorable note.”
CMT began promoting Make-A-Wish through their Christmas cards in 1997, accompanied by a donation. Since then, CMT has donated almost $40,000 to support the organization. This is the first time they have been able to be personally involved in a specific send-off event, and it meant a lot to be able to participate.
“CMT has been pleased to support Make-A-Wish over many years,” stated Dan Meckes, President and CEO of CMT. “We are more than happy to encourage Sophia and her family by helping make this experience possible.”
Allegiant has built a business around helping make vacation possible in small communities throughout the country. By establishing Make-A-Wish as its primary charity, Allegiant is able to help make wishes possible in the communities it serves, including Southwestern Illinois. Thanks to this unique partnership, Sophia was given the opportunity to fly with her family to Orlando from MidAmerica Airport, as Allegiant provided its 127th wish trip to this Make-A-Wish family.
“Allegiant is honored to support Make-A-Wish by providing air travel for wish families traveling to their wish destinations,” said Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant Travel Company President and Chief Operations Officer. "Allegiant team members are passionate about making vacation possible for the 99 communities that we serve. Our ongoing relationship with Make-A-Wish expands on that mission by making more wish trips possible for the families helped by Make-A-Wish.”
Since the 1980s, Make-A-Wish has been granting the wishes of children with life- threatening medical conditions to enrich their lives with hope, strength and joy.
“Allegiant Air’s generous and enthusiastic support is a wonderful way for the community to come together in supporting our wish children with hope, strength and joy at a time they need it most," said Stephanie Springs, Chief Executive Officer of Make-A-Wish Illinois.
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 has been named one of America’s 100 Best Small Companies by Forbes Magazine for four consecutive years. For downloadable press kit, including photos, visit: http://gofly.us/SQmY7O.
Make-A-Wish Illinois grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich their lives with hope, strength and joy. Since 1985, Make-A-Wish has worked with volunteers and generous supporters to share the power of a wish® with more than 12,000 children and their families across Illinois. For more information or to find out how you can help, call 800-978-9474 or visit www.illinois.wish.org
MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is located in Mascoutah, Illinois, in the eastern portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Major multimodal rail and inland port centers are located within 22 miles of the airport, which also enjoys easy access to five interstate highways via I-64. With parallel runways of 8,000 and 10,000 feet, the airport can handle simultaneous take-offs and landings in all conditions, minimizing delays. It has an annual capacity of 200,000 operations. Current tenants include North Bay Produce, Inc., Boeing, and AVMATS, which has been providing alternatives for the support and maintenance of corporate aircraft at MidAmerica for almost a decade. MidAmerica is a Joint Use Airport partnering with Scott AFB, the home to US Transportation Command, a multi service organization, and Air Mobility Command, the USAF’s component command for airlift. MidAmerica and the 375th Air Mobility Wing operate Scott AFB/MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. For more information, visit www.flymidamerica.com.
Based in Springfield, Illinois, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. (CMT) is a full-service consulting firm focused on four markets: aviation; highways and bridges; water resources; and civil and site services. CMT provides planning, design, and construction observation phase services on projects that range from simple to complex. Engineering News-Record Midwest magazine voted CMT as the 2014 Design Firm of the Year.
Photo caption: Three-year-old Sophia Moelk, of Edwardsville, Ill., who was born with Trisomy 18 (Edward Syndrome), was the recipient of the latest wish trip granted by Allegiant Air and the Make-A-WishT Foundation. On Sunday, June 8, Sophia and her family were the VIP guests at a special red-carpet sendoff celebration hosted by MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. (CMT), as they prepared to depart on an Allegiant flight to Orlando for a magical wish experience. Pictured in the photo are (back row, from left to right) Dan Meckes, President and CEO of CMT, and Sophia and her mom, Teresa Moelk. Pictured in the front row (from left to right) are Sophia’s family members: sister Kayla Moelk, brother Dakota Maldonado, father Donald Moelk and sister Justine Moelk.
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