News Releases
WestJetters to mentor 100 youth across Canada
CALGARY, Sept. 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, WestJet employees will spend their day mentoring 100 youth from Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) by showing them the ins and outs of aviation at the airline's Calgary headquarters and 28 airports across Canada.
"Over the last 10 years, WestJet Cares for Kids has found meaningful ways to positively impact the health and well-being of Canadian children and youth," said Richard Bartrem, WestJet Vice-President Marketing Communications. "Today, we go beyond the gift of flight to give the gift of insight and experience. More than 100 WestJetters will be taking BBBS youth under their wing to motivate, teach and inspire them to look at all the possibilities a career in aviation can provide. WestJet's Mentoring Matters day is just another example of our ongoing commitment to investing in the communities we serve."
"Witnessing the transformation of a child into a confident and motivated young person is a truly remarkable thing," said Peter Coleridge, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada President and CEO. "Proudly, this is something our staff, volunteer mentors and partners like WestJet help bring about every day by creating truly unique experiences like this Mentoring Matters day."
From flight crew to mechanics, baggage handlers to customer care agents, and accountants to marketers, BBBS youth will go behind the scenes while job shadowing WestJetters in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and more. For a complete list of airports involved, please visit the WestJet blog. Follow along with WestJet's Mentoring Matters Day by using the #MentoringMatters hashtag.
WestJet supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada with the gift of flight to assist with direct program service delivery, reducing business administration expenses and bolstering fundraising activities. Since the inception of WestJet Cares for Kids in 2007, WestJet has gifted more than 55,000 flights benefiting children's health and well-being.
September is Big Brothers Big Sisters month when BBBS celebrates the power and impact of mentoring. Throughout the month, BBBS seeks to raise awareness about their programming and the important role mentoring plays in the lives of youth, as well as the lifelong impact BBBS mentoring programs have on youth as they grow into adults, community leaders and engaged citizens. For more information, please visit www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
About Big Brother Big Sisters
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been changing the lives of Canada's youth by developing and implementing a wide range of mentoring programs. Every year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada provides quality mentoring services for more than 40,000 youth, engaging over 23,000 mentors in 111 agencies that serve youth in over 1,100 communities across the country. Research demonstrates that Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs yield positive results in mental health, employment and civic engagement, with every dollar of investment in BBBS programming returning between $18 and $23 to society through higher taxes, increased spending from higher incomes, volunteerism, and charitable donations. For more information, visit www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
About WestJet
We are proud to be Canada's highest-rated airline for customer service, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 150 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods ̶ even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.
Recent recognition includes:
2016/2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)
2015/2011/2010/2008/2007/2006/2005 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture (Waterstone Human Capital)
2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)
2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in the Canada's Choice ranking (RewardsCanada.ca)
2014 Interbrand Canada's Best Canadian Brands (Rank #20)
2014 Brands of the Year (Strategy magazine)
2014 Canada's Most Preferred Airline (Ipsos)
2014 Value Airline of the Year (Air Transport World magazine)
2014/2013/2012 Canada's Most Attractive Employer (Randstad)
2014/2013/2012/2011 Highest equity score: airline, vacation package supplier brands (Harris/Decima EquiTrend Study)
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SOURCE WestJet
