On December 12, we welcomed more than 50 Make-A-Wish Minnesota kids and their families for a flight to the North Pole at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Terminal 2. As part of this annual event, we transformed Terminal 2 into Santa’s workshop for wish kids to experience.
Wish kids and their families were greeted by our team members in holiday attire, our mascot Sunny, local firefighters, and police officers. They wrote letters to Santa and then boarded a “flight” to the North Pole. After a taxi around the airport tarmac, with a brief layover in Whoville to see the Grinch, they arrived at Gate H1 and H2 which had been transformed into Santa’s workshop, complete with snow. Wish kids had the opportunity to share their lists with Santa, receive gifts, and participate in holiday-themed activities.
Refreshments were generously provided by Subway, JMLM Restaurants, Inc., and Caribou Coffee.
We are proud to be a longtime partner of Make-A-Wish Minnesota, bringing joy to children experiencing critical illnesses. We provide flights for Make-A-Wish Minnesota to help fulfill those children’s wish trips. In 2021, we made a 3-year commitment to donate an estimated $720,000 worth of travel to accommodate every wish kid traveling anywhere the airline flies.
By the end of 2023, we will have completed 88 flights for wish kids, including:
Meetings with celebrities
Magical theme park trips
Travel throughout the U.S., including:
New York City
Alaska
Florida beaches
Skateboard camp
An accessible waterpark
A dude ranch
Kennedy Space Center
We are proud to partner with our friends at Make-A-Wish Minnesota to provide the Flight to the North Pole each year.
Learn more about Make-A-Wish Minnesota here.