<body><div>MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As preparation continues for the FedEx St Jude Championship kicking off next week, a major attraction landed on TPC Southwind this morning with one goal – to highlight the important work taking place at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. If you were driving on I-240 Thursday morning, you may have gotten caught up in a little bit of traffic. “It might look small from a distance, but you get up close, and this is a serious machine,” said Joshua Canfield, FedEx Senior VP of Technical Operations.This FedEx Cessna Caravan, named after Luis Carlos, was escorted in pieces from FedEx Corporation Aviation to TPC Southwind where it will be reassembled ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.If you’re wondering who Luis Carlos is, he’s a 15-year-old St. Jude patient. “I’m a sophomore this year,” Carlos said.“Beats being a freshman,” Canfield said.Canfield says the plane was named after Luis as a part of their “Purple Eagle” program.“It’s a tradition that we started about 14 years ago where we name one of our feeder aircraft, a FedEx Cessna Caravan, after a patient at St. Jude who is the child or grandchild of a FedEx employee,” Canfield said.Luis was chosen through a lottery process. His grandfather, Kevin, is a 10-year FedEx team member. Kevin’s entire family was invited to come out to get a first look at the plane before it is publicly displayed.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1P4WkS_1E0G413c00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1P4WkS_1E0G413c00" width="2000" height="1500" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=101Dyj_1E0G413c00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=101Dyj_1E0G413c00" width="2000" height="1500" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2qCLga_1E0G413c00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2qCLga_1E0G413c00" width="2000" height="1500" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3U8sQJ_1E0G413c00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3U8sQJ_1E0G413c00" width="2000" height="1500" ></figure>Your News Leader got an exclusive look at the entire reveal.“Today is going to be the logistical challenge of taking this airplane, working with our technical teams, our feeder operations teams, local law enforcement, the volunteers who run this tournament, and we’re going to go set this plane up on the golf course,” Canfield said.Canfield says the plane highlights the incredible work happening at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to save lives and the golf course is only the first stop. The Purple Eagle plane, with aircraft number name N828FE, will fly with Luis’ name on it as long as it is within the FedEx network.“This is one of the planes that allows us to extend the purple promise into the smaller communities around the world,” he said. “We try to honor and respect and really celebrate the child getting and all the work that St. Jude does.”Purple Eagle plane dedication ceremony will take place next week.</div></body>

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As preparation continues for the FedEx St Jude Championship kicking off next week, a major attraction landed on TPC Southwind this morning with one goal – to highlight the important work taking place at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. If you were driving on...

St. Jude patient honored by FedEx Purple Eagle program

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