DHL, Special Olympics and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) are teaming up again for the fourth annual DHL Plane Pull event to raise funds for Special Olympics Kentucky and its programs for local athletes.
Saturday, at 11 a.m., more than 25 local businesses and civic groups will compete in the ultimate tug of war at the DHL Americas Hub, pulling one of the DHL Boeing 737s – weighing over 140,000 pounds – across the tarmac.
The team that pulls the aircraft 12 feet in the shortest amount of time wins.
Each team must raise a minimum of $1,000 to participate and all proceeds help provide sports programs, health services, early childhood programs and community building programs that serve children and adults in Kentucky with intellectual disabilities.
Programs include Young Athletes Program and the Healthy Athletes screening initiatives. All funds raised support the programs of Special Olympics Kentucky that benefit 8,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities annually.
“We are excited to once again collaborate with Special Olympics with our annual DHL Plane Pull,” said Joanie Arias, Vice President, DHL Express CVG Americas Hub. “On Saturday you’ll see some great teams flex their muscles for our local athletes. We are proud to provide an exciting and meaningful opportunity to raise money for such an important cause.”
At the event, winners in the categories of men’s team, women’s team and co-ed team will be crowned champions. Prizes will also be awarded to the top individual fundraiser and top fundraising team as well as best team spirit and best team t-shirt.
The DHL plane pull will take place on the ramp of the DHL Express Hub, located at 236 Wendell H. Ford Boulevard in Erlanger.
The hub at CVG is one of three global hubs in the DHL Americas network and handles 50 arriving and departing flights daily connecting customers from more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.
The DHL Plane Pull is part of the Deutsche Post DHL Global Volunteer Day activities which encourages employees to support their local communities during the month of September and throughout the year.
The Global Volunteer Day projects deliver on the Group’s three core Corporate Responsibility programs, which focus on environmental protection (“GoGreen”), improving educational opportunity and employability for young people (“GoTeach”), and providing humanitarian logistics support (“GoHelp”).
“We are very excited to bring the Plane Pull back to DHL this year. DHL is an incredible partner, and the DHL Plane Pull gets better and better each year thanks to their involvement,” said Taylor Ballinger, special events director at Special Olympics Kentucky. “This year, we’ll have close to 1,000 participants, spectators, and volunteers at the event. We look forward to having so many people out at the DHL Hub to support the work of Special Olympics Kentucky. It’s going to be a great event.”
The public is also invited to view the competition and share in the fun. Local radio personality, Jenn Fritsch from Q102, Cincinnati’s Hit Music station, will emcee the event.
It’s not too late to sponsor a favorite pull team participant, or submit a tax-deductible donation by visiting the contribution page of Special Olympics Kentucky’s website at: http://www.soky.org/individual.
The DHL Plane Pull is sponsored by DHL Express, Southern Air, CVG Airport, CVG Airport Police, Food Systems, Atlas Air, Apex Environmental Services, Air Transport Services Group, Integrated Deicing Services, Kalitta Air, Polar Air, Chuy’s and Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport.
DHL is the world’s leading logistics company and more than 90 percent of freight shipped by the company in the Americas travels through CVG.
DHL