AIRLIFT
A special thank you to our Airlift partners
Athlete spotlight
The Citation Special Olympics Airlift would not be possible without help from these companies that provide us with resources that allow for a safe and successfully executed Airlift. From Cessna and the entire Special Olympics organization: thank you for partnering with us to help these very special athletes.
K’Von is a shining example of a Special Olympics competitor. Everywhere he goes, he wins the hearts of many volunteers and coaches with his enthusiasm and contagious energy. In five years of participating in Special Olympics, K’Von has become an excellent role model for other athletes and a great competitor. When he’s not competing, he can often be found cheering on other athletes.
K’Von Albert, Louisiana
American Packaging
Lincoln CVB
ARINC
Lincoln Municipal Airport
AvFuel
Lincoln Tower
Baseops
NE Air National Guard
Brothers Bar & Grill
Oregon Trail Equipment
Crete Carrier Corporation
Silverhawk Aviation
Duncan Aviation
Townsend Leather
FAA
Tronair
Jeppesen
UPS
april.2010
CITaTION SPeCIaL OLYMPICS aIRLIFT 2010
Help Special Olympics delegations reach new heights The 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games are only months away, and the Citation Special Olympics Airlift still needs owners to volunteer aircraft on July 17 to take athletes from their home state to Lincoln, Neb., and to return to Lincoln on July 24 to transport the athletes home. Hear directly from Illinois and Louisiana delegations on the difference you can make:
K’Von is 10 years old and will be one of the youngest athletes at the USA National Games in Lincoln, where he will compete in track and field. At the 2008 and 2009 State Summer Games he placed first in both the 25 meter and 100 meter wheelchair races. “It gives me a chance to play sports with others who are in wheelchairs and not be judged by what I can’t do but what I can do,” K’Von said.
It’s not too late to volunteer your Citation Registration for the Citation Special Olympics Airlift is simple and exclusively online at www. airlift.cessna.com. Corporations and individual Cessna Citation owners and operators are needed to donate their Citation business jet(s), pilots and fuel on Saturday, July 17 and Saturday, July 24. Your commitment helps with logistics from manifesting passengers to sequencing your arrival time. Visit www.airlift.cessna.com for a list of those who’ve already committed to the event and a video featuring Harrison Ford, our honorary chairman for the 2010 Citation Special Olympics Airlift.
nsIder
Illinois
Louisiana
Since being selected for the Illinois delegation headed to the USA National Games, Special Olympics athlete Collette Kessinger has been studying books and maps of Nebraska. You could provide her the experience of a lifetime by allowing her a bird’s-eye view of Nebraska from your Citation.
Have you ever competed on a national stage? Special Olympics Louisiana is proud to announce we will send more than 85 athletes and coaches to the USA National Games in Nebraska this July. One challenge: how do we get there?
Illinois is sending 71 athletes and 19 coaches to the event and needs your help to ensure that every athlete has the opportunity to soar in their competition. Illinois does not assess any fees for athletes to participate and hopes to pay all expenses associated with the delegation’s trip. Expenses include uniforms, training camp, extra practices for each sport and assistance to families preparing to travel.
AIRCRAFT NEEDED
We are looking forward to showing off our abilities, but Team Louisiana needs transportation. We are one of the oldest state chapters in the Special Olympics movement, yet Louisiana athletes have never had the opportunity to participate in the Airlift.
Help Special Olympics Illinois athletes reach new heights by donating your Citation to transport athletes and coaches to the USA National Games.
We need Citation owners willing to transport Louisiana athletes. Donated transportation would save us a considerable amount of money, allowing us to fund mandatory equipment and materials necessary for success. Your generosity and desire to give back to your community will make a significant impact on the lives of Special Olympics athletes.
Doug Snyder
Pat Carpenter Bourgeois
President and CEO Special Olympics Illinois
President and CEO Special Olympics Louisiana
At a glance
AIRCRAFT SECURED
• Citation Special Olympics Airlift
NOT PARTICIPATING
• July 17 & 24, 2010 • Transporting 2,000 athletes
For more information:
888-LNK-LIF T (888.565.5438) www.airlif t.cessna.com 10%
TOTAL RECOVERED FIBER ALL POST-CONSUMER FIBER
Cessna Aircraft Company • PO Box 7706 • Wichita, KS 67277
Everybody needs a lift now and then...
CITaT ION SPeCIaL OLYMPICS aIRLIF T / aPRIL 2010
An Update from the CSOA Director
Kemmons Wilson Companies:
What to expect once you register for the Airlift
Giving Special Olympics athletes a lift
The Airlift is less than three months away and the Ground Logistics Team is now in high gear as we finalize the last few planning details. There’s not a day that goes by that I am not asked “How is planning for the Airlift going?” and “What do you have left to do?”. My answer is always the same: I need to find more aircraft to provide transportation because I have 2,000 athletes counting on us. These athletes understand that the economy has been devastating to many of our companies because they have seen the effects on their own families. Still, these athletes haven’t given up on their goal of achieving gold at the Special Olympics USA National Games in Lincoln, Neb., and I can’t give up on mine of making sure I have a seat on a Citation for each of them. I know some of you are new to the Citation family or the Airlift and might not know what to expect if you register your Citation. Here’s an overview: Within a week of registering your Citation, you will receive a letter with a Citation Special Olympics Airlift decal and a medallion for your aircraft representing each year you have participated in the Airlift. In late June, you will receive a package that will include all the information you need for your Airlift participation: • A “Dove” call sign that will help ATC expedite you through the system and give your aircraft priority over all other air traffic on both Saturdays. • Fuel/no fuel card that will allow the aircraft marshals in Lincoln to know where to direct you on arrival and departure day to make the fueling process as simple as possible.
FBO and contact information for your FBO. • A special Jeppesen Briefing Bulletin on filing your flight plans, instructions on arriving and departing LNK and a LNK airport layout map. We know many of you may need to drop passengers and have a quick turn in Lincoln, which is how we have designed the process, but if your schedule allows we hope you might stay for awhile in Lincoln. The Pilot Hospitality Tent will have food, drinks, comprehensive weather briefing, Lincoln Tower personnel will be on site to provide the necessary flight clearance and a payment kiosk for handling all discounted fueling operations. The Ground Logistics Team has designed the Airlift to be safe, efficient and provide a great environment for both the athletes and our Citation operators. To register, please go to www.airlift.cessna.com and sign up today to join us in Lincoln on July 17 and July 24.
Kemmons Wilson’s pioneering vision in the hospitality industry changed the way Americans travel and the way we do business.
Rhonda Fullerton is Cessna Community Relations manager and director of the Citation Special Olympics Airlift
The idea of a chain of hotels that allowed kids to stay free and featured standard amenities like air conditioning, television and a swimming pool was revolutionary when Kemmons opened his first Holiday Inn in 1952. He continued to break new ground by developing franchising in the 1950s well before it was a widespread business concept, and in the 1960s he was the first to offer computerized hotel reservations. Having flown in the U.S. Air Force’s Air Transport Command during World War II, Kemmons naturally found aviation to be a valuable business tool. According to his son Bob, one day Kemmons missed a commercial flight out of Memphis and chartered an airplane. “He thought to himself, ‘This is ridiculous, I could fly myself,’ and we’ve been using business aircraft every since,” said Bob, who along with his brothers continues to run Kemmons Wilson Companies (KWC) from Memphis, Tenn. Since 1948, KWC has owned, operated or partnered in 400 companies. Today, KWC represents a diverse collection of businesses mostly in the areas of resort timesharing, hospitality, real estate, financial services, aviation and insurance.
polio, so I’ve been around kids with special needs all my life,” Bob said. “The Airlift gives our company a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in a way that really touches my heart.” In 1995 and 1999, KWC’s CitationJet took athletes to Hartford, Conn., and RaleighDurham, N.C., respectively. The company donated its Citation Excel for the 2006 Airlift to Des Moines, Iowa.
KWC purchased its first business jet in 1994 – the 50th CitationJet to roll off the production line – and has participated in each Citation Special Olympics Airlift since.
KWC currently has three business jets in its fleet: a Citation CJ2, a Citation Excel and a Citation Mustang. They have agreed to donate two of their Citations to transport athletes from Memphis to Lincoln, Neb. During the past two Airlifts and again this year, KWC has also hosted a departure point at one of its Wilson Air Services, which has fixed-base operations in Memphis, Charlotte and Houston.
“My wife is a pediatric physical therapist and I grew up with a cousin who had
Bob and his brother Spence fly the company’s aircraft, and KWC also employs
a full-time pilot, Charlie Huggins. All three are Air Force trained. “All three of us have flown in big airlifts in our military careers,” Bob said, “and from a pilot standpoint, Cessna makes it so doggone easy. They are ready if something comes up, but we’ve never had a problem. “It’s a great atmosphere when you land at the Special Olympics. You open the door and the volunteers from Cessna take care of everything. We enjoyed it so much that we wanted to stay another couple of hours to just watch the other Citations come in, meet the different crews and be a part of the athletes’ experience.”
• A complete passenger manifest, schedule of aircraft departure on July 17 from the FBO with arrival time into LNK, schedule of departure on July 24 from LNK back to the
Everybody needs a lift now and then...