We write a great deal about companies that are doing well and maybe
not enough about companies that are doing good. Many civic-minded
companies in the travel industry dedicate themselves to helping
deserving individuals and organizations in a variety of ways.
One of the more interesting approaches to community service can
be found at Worldspan. The other day, the Atlanta-based GDS vendor
dedicated a new Habitat for Humanity home that was recently built
in Powder Springs, Ga.
The company sponsored the building of the house for a needy
local family and some two hundred employees and their families
contributed their time to assist in the construction.
Worldspan has done this kind of thing in the past, working under
the auspices of the Cobb County Habitat for Humanity Affiliate,
comprising volunteers and sponsors who provide funding and manpower
for needy people who seek to own their own homes. A number of
Atlanta-based businesses work with the organization.
The Worldspan volunteers spent 10 Saturdays this past summer
providing a good portion of the labor required to build the
three-bedroom house. They were joined by other Habitat for Humanity
homeowners as well as the people who would occupy the finished
house.
The valuable work done by the Worldspan folks in Georgia brought
to mind images of former President Jimmy Carter who, with his
family, has devoted so much of his time in recent years to working
on these kinds of projects. It's probably not coincidental that
both the ex-President and the GDS vendor are Georgia-based.
Worldspan deserves a lot of credit. Its generosity is a reminder
to all of us that no matter how busy we are, there always is time
to do something that can't be measured by financial results.
If you'd like to learn more about Worldspan's activities as well
as the work of the Habitat for Humanity, you can contact Patricia
Cooledge Forsyth at Worldspan at 770-563-7885 or by email at [email protected].