Delta Air Lines Executives Travel Near and Far To Take Part in Home Rehabilitation as Part Of Commitment to Habitat For Humanity

LONG BEACH, CA, September 27, 2010 (Press-News.org) Delta Air Lines kicked off a partnership with Habitat for Humanity the week of September 7th with a goal to build affordable homes in seven cities across the country. Locally, employees from Delta Air Lines' Los Angeles facility have been working on a home rehabilitation in Long Beach for a Habitat Partner family yet to be named. The renovation will include several green building elements. On Wednesday, September 22, Delta executives from Atlanta and Los Angeles joined a crew of 30 volunteers to make a serious dent in the home's progress. As well as building with Habitat for Humanity in Long Beach, Delta employees have also landed at build sites in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Memphis, Minneapolis - St. Paul and New York City.

Delta volunteers are rehabilitating a home located on Magnolia Avenue in Long Beach, which they expect to complete by October 16th. Wednesday's volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got busy framing, roofing and flooring and, together the team formed an assembly line to clear a large pile of broken up concrete, which they accomplished in about 20 minutes flat. They were treated to a catered lunch generously donated by The Garden of Eating, a long time supporter of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. During lunch, the volunteers met a Habitat Partner family, the Lopez', who spoke about their experiences applying for and being selected as homeowners. The Lopez family home will be built just two blocks from this build site and should be completed within one year.

"We have volunteers from all over here today including Atlanta, Arizona and Los Angeles and we are very proud to be a part of this," says Tim Mapes, SVP, Marketing Delta Air Lines, adding, "this beautiful home will forever change the lives of a hard-working family, as well as the lives of those lucky enough to help build it."

"Our staff is so impressed by the level of support and enthusiasm we see from the Delta volunteers," says Erin Rank, President and CEO, HFH GLA. "The commitment from Delta to not only sponsor this house but to also provide the workforce to build it is something we've never had at our affiliate and it's a huge gift on so many levels."

Twenty-five employees volunteer on the site every Wednesday through Saturday during the six-week blitz build time period. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles is currently in the process of selecting a family to partner with on this home. Once selected, the homeowner family will be required to put in up to 500 hours of "sweat equity" building or volunteering at other HFH GLA sites, make a manageable down payment and pay back a zero-interest mortgage.

About Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA) strives to eliminate poverty housing through advocacy, education and partnership with families in need to build simple, decent, affordable and sustainable housing. Since 1990, HFH GLA has built and renovated over 630 homes locally and worldwide, transforming the lives of hundreds of individuals. HFH GLA is a GuideStar Valued Partner. For more information, please visit http://www.habitatla.org or call 310-323-4663. Visit our blog at http://buildingagreaterla.blogspot.com

About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 354 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 75,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.