Canadian airline donates to Caribbean hurricane victims
TORONTO, Canada (CMC) — A low-cost Canadian airline has donated more than C$20,000 to help hurricane victims in the Caribbean.
Sunwing Airline officials said that the Sunwing Foundation has made a donation of C$20,716 to GlobalMedic, a Canadian international disaster relief charity.
Travel Pulse Canada said Sunwing matched the funds raised through the airline’s spare change programme over a six-week period. The money will be used by GlobalMedic to provide ongoing aid to areas of the Caribbean most impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
“As Sunwing sends aircraft into destinations to repatriate its own customers, and often other Canadians, GlobalMedic then uses these outbound flights to transport much needed emergency aid and first response crews,” said Stephen Hunter, president and chief executive officer of Sunwing Travel Group.
“GlobalMedic has an established track record of being the first on the scene to provide vital aid, and we had no hesitation in facilitating this donation for them,” he added.
“We would also like to express our gratitude to our passengers for their generosity.”
As the charitable initiative of the Sunwing Travel Group, the foundation supports charities by passing on 100 per cent of all donations raised through its spare change program on Sunwing Airlines, along with matching funds with a donation of its own, taking no administrative fees, Travel Pulse said.
Rahul Singh, executive director of GlobalMedic, welcomed the news.
“We appreciate the continued support of Sunwing, along with the generous spirit of its employees who actively participated in packing events to support hurricane victims,” he said.