Thanks to customer donations, the Emirates Airline Foundation used a staggering 132 million Skywards Miles to positively impact the lives and livelihoods of more than 90,000 people, mainly children, living in some of the most impoverished communities worldwide. In the same period – from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 – the Foundation also donated more than AED 6.5 million to 22 projects in 12 countries.
The Foundation, a vital heartbeat of the airline established in 2003, routinely supports 32 projects and non-government organisations (NGOs) in 18 countries worldwide including Sri Lanka, through customer donations, corporate sponsorships and Emirates funds. Support ranges from absorbing all annual running expenses and building infrastructure to running feeding and medical programmes, paying salaries and covering other ad hoc expenses.
The Foundation also appeals to Emirates’ customers to donate Skywards Miles, small change inflight, and funds on its website.
Last year, the Foundation used 132 million donated Skywards Miles to support travel for 35 NGOs on more than 50 medical missions; four NGOs on five engineering missions; and one NGO on two educational missions. The top five countries with the largest beneficiaries were: Bangladesh – more than 66,000 people; South Africa – around 7,900; Uganda – around 5,500; Tanzania – around 2,900; and Ghana – 2,000.
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline and Chairman of the Emirates Airline Foundation said: “Emirates always looks for meaningful ways in which we can contribute to the local and global communities we serve, whether by sponsoring world-class sports and cultural events, supporting trade and tourism, or community causes. The Emirates Airline Foundation is our passion project, and we work with like-minded partners and NGOs globally who aim to reach out to the neglected, ignored, and the poorest communities on the planet.
In Sri Lanka, the Emirates Airline Foundation has been active for well over a decade, with support to refurbish and upgrade the Intensive Care Unit of the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH) in 2008, and the financing of some of the operating expenses including electricity costs of Prithipura Communities, begun in 2018, among its principal projects.
The Foundation has also in the past 10 years supported an Open Heart Surgery project, the construction of a biogas plant for a children’s home in Tangalle and the ‘Gift of Sight’ project at the LRH. Last year, the Foundation supported the entire travel, logistics and free baggage allowance of 676 doctors, nurses and medical staff from NGOs. The medical practitioners travelled from Europe, USA, Canada and Australia to conduct thousands of free life-saving surgeries, consultations and screenings, and also training for local medical staff.
The Foundation positively impacted the lives of more than 10,300 children and 340 teachers when it supported two educational missions – one to South Africa and the other to Tanzania. The Emirates Airline Foundation is a non-profit charity organisation which aims to improve the quality of life for children, regardless of geographical, political, or religious boundaries.
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