ATLANTA, July 13, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Atlanta Braves' slugger Jeff Francoeur are teaming up to go to bat for a hometown charity, Atlanta's Dream House for Medically Fragile Children, through a new charitable sponsorship called the SkyMiles Home Run Program. The Official Airline of the Atlanta Braves pledged today to donate 25,000 Delta SkyMiles(r) for each home run hit by Francoeur during the 2007 season to benefit this local charity.
"Hitting a home run is always a big thrill, but Delta's SkyMiles Home Run Program will make each future hit even more valuable," said Francoeur, who has amassed 10 home runs through the All-Star break this season. "Helping children and families in need is very important to me, and I am honored to support the Dream House for Medically Fragile Children."
The Dream House for Medically Fragile Children will use the SkyMiles donated by Delta to fly beneficiaries and supporters of the charity -- including children, families, caregivers and staff -- throughout the country as they work to meet their organization's goals. Founded in 2001 as Dream House for Kids, Dream House for Medically Fragile Children is dedicated to increasing opportunities for medically fragile children to live in a stable, permanent home environment through support resources and programs that increase the number of families and communities prepared to care for them.
"Jeff Francoeur is a Braves fan favorite and, given his support of the Dream House for Medically Fragile Children, is a true hometown hero like all of those involved with this charity," said Capt. Mike Doyle, Delta's Atlanta Chief Pilot. "Through the SkyMiles Home Run Program, Braves fans and Delta customers will now have even more reason to cheer for Jeff each time he comes to the plate this year."
"Delta's SkyMiles Home Run program will greatly benefit our families and caregivers, enabling the children to fly to special medical testing centers and hospitals across the country," said Laura O. Moore, Founder and CEO of Dream House for Medically Fragile Children. "These very important SkyMiles will also help our advocacy efforts by allowing us to meet with others across the country, addressing issues on a national level that will impact the health and quality of life for all medically fragile children. We are so grateful to Delta Air Lines for its generous donation and to Jeff Francoeur for including us in this wonderful program."
Delta Air Lines offers customers service to more destinations than any global airline with Delta and Delta Connection carrier service to 333 destinations in 57 countries. With more than 60 new international routes introduced in the last year, Delta has added more international capacity than all other U.S. airlines combined and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic destinations. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers nearly 700 weekly flights to more than 60 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 479 worldwide destinations in 105 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
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Dream House for Medically Fragile Children Inc. provides education, skills training, and assistance with healthcare equipment acquisition and resource referrals, so that kinship, foster, and adoptive families can care for medically fragile children in their own 'dream home.' The Dream House Family for Keeps(tm) training program is the only one of its kind in the country. The program aims to dramatically reduce the number of medically fragile children in foster care, improve the quality of life for these children and their families, and save the state of Georgia, the tax payers, and healthcare institutions millions of dollars each year.
Taxes and fees for award travel are the responsibility of the passenger and must be paid at the time the ticket is booked. Award travel seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets. All Delta SkyMiles program rules apply. To review the rules, please visit www.delta.com/memberguide.