Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Polar Pete to the Rescue!

jherring
Explorer A

Who is Polar Pete, you ask? Why, he's the newest camper at Camp I-Thonka-Chi.


As I've shared in a previous post, every year in early June, a group of Southwest Airlines Employees volunteer to share our LUV with a group of remarkable, brave kids who happen to be burn victims.


We recently returned from our 17th annual visit to Camp I-Thonka-Chi, where young patients of Parkland Memorial Hospital's Burn Trauma Unit go at the beginning of each summer to have FUN and just be kids. Of all the times we've been honored to visit Camp, this was the most heartwarming we've ever experienced.


The highlight of our visit was the dance, which we traditionally host on the last night of Camp. There's always an awards ceremony; plenty of games to play; photo ops with a range of FUN backdrops; and, of course, all sorts of dancing.


One of the most popular spots at the dance has always been the sno cone stand, where our volunteers are happy to serve each child his/her favorite-flavored icy treat. Last year, we noticed that the sno cone machine was pretty beat-up and had cracks in the Plexiglas body and a frayed electric cord. The machine still worked but was clearly on its last leg. Enter Polar Pete.

 

Polar Pete is a new and honorary member of the Southwest Family, and he joined us out of our wish to do something nice for our young friends at Camp. So, out with the old sno cone machine and in with a new one-Polar Pete! He also brought a shiny new popcorn machine with him. The Southwest volunteers are thrilled that Polar Pete will always be on hand to make sure that the kids enjoy delicious sno cones and tasty popcorn for years to come.


Anything that brings a smile to a child's face is a good thing.


Polar Pete to the rescue!

1 Comment