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Loving People: Southwest’s Medical Transportation Grant Program Assists Patients and Caregivers

dwafford
Employee
Employee

Loving people is at the Heart of Southwest Airlines, and one of the many ways we connect with communities is through our Medical Transportation Grant Program (MTGP). Since 2007, Southwest has supported nonprofit hospitals and medical transportation organizations by providing complimentary, roundtrip tickets for patients and their families to use when seeking medical treatment.  The purpose of the MTGP is to help alleviate travel costs for patients receiving critical medical treatments.

 

This year, we’re excited to donate 10,000 roundtrip tickets to 76 hospitals and medical transportation charities. Since the program’s inception, Southwest has donated nearly $32 million in transportation to support more than 79,000 patients and caregivers.

 

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Giving back is an important part of Southwest and we’re honored to help people, like the Gnader family, through this program. The Gnaders have been MTGP recipients since 2018 and have used the program to travel between Texas and Ohio.

 

The following testimonial is from MTGP recipients Tim and Renee Gnader

In late 2016, our youngest daughter was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and underwent a bone marrow transplant in early 2017 at a local Dallas hospital. Her diagnosis makes her condition extremely complex.

 

In 2018, it became necessary to move her to a hospital that could offer her more specialized care. We knew her road to recovery would be long-term and tough, but as a family, we would continue celebrating the important moments in life. We were blessed to find her a doctor at the Cleveland Children’s Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a little over 1,200 miles from home.

 

It was difficult for us to imagine our daughter moving so far from family and friends. Realizing we couldn’t see her on a regular basis created a great deal of anxiety. We found comfort in knowing that her mother was able to move to Cleveland to be by her side, even though the balance of our family would remain in the Dallas area.  

 

This is where Southwest Airlines Medical Transportation Grant Program has been such a blessing to our family. 

 

With the help of the Medical Transportation Grant Program, we all have been able to spend numerous weekends in Cleveland. This time together has allowed our family to celebrate Christmas, our daughter's birthday, and be there for procedures and important medical progress updates. Being able to reconnect and encourage each other is paramount to our daughter's continued healing, and the emotional well-being of everyone in our family. Without the assistance of Southwest, we would not be able to share these much needed and meaningful moments together.

 

Southwest’s generosity demonstrates what a huge Heart the Company has for giving back. In fact, this inspired our eldest daughter to apply and participate in the Campus Reach Internship Program at Southwest. She was able to experience firsthand the hard work and dedication of the many People that make stories like ours possible. 

 

Our family continues to feel the impact that Southwest has made on our lives, as their generosity has provided one less expense to worry us. Instead, we can focus on making the most of every trip to Cleveland. 

 

As our daughter continues to progress in her healing, it gives us great joy to know that with Southwest’s assistance, we can look forward to spending valuable moments as a family. There are no words to express our gratitude to Southwest for the generosity and sincere commitment to families like ours.

1 Comment
CareforNOLA
Frequent Flyer A

Thank you for posting and hosting — the testimonial and the Medical Transportation Grant Program, that is.

 

What an uplifting story for a Monday!