World Vision Canada and Air Canada team up to aid tsunami victims
1/4/05
TORONTO, Jan 04, 2005 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) --
The first relief agency flights from Canada to tsunami-stricken Indonesia are expected to take off from Toronto this week.
The first of the two Air Canada cargo flights will leave Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, ferrying aid workers and more than 40,000 kilograms of desperately needed supplies.
A second plane will carry more than 85,000 kilograms of relief supplies to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday, said Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke.
The relief material, supplied by the World Vision Canada, is headed for Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh region.
"Things like dried food, water purification tablets, clothing, blankets, tarps, tents, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, which might sound funny, but soap and that sort of thing are very important now because of the risk of disease," said Judy Burrell, a spokeswoman for World Vision Canada of the supplies.
"Some of it was on hand - we do store things in bulk ahead of time just in case - some if it did come from storage facilities, but the rest of it was donated by companies."
As of Tuesday, World Vision Canada had raised $8 million for the tsunami relief effort - part of the millions donated to charitable organizations by Canadians. The federal government has said it will match donations by individual Canadians up to Jan. 11.
Large charitable organizations say they prefer cash and not donations of food or clothing. They buy the items they need in bulk overseas, which reduces sorting, storage and shipping costs.
But Air Canada made an offer of two flights to World Vision Canada that the charity couldn't refuse.
"It was really terrific. We would rather people give us cash because you save a lot of money if you buy things there and in bulk. Transportation is a huge cost, but with Air Canada making this donation to us, we took advantage of it," said Burrell.
Air Canada made the offer after being approached by employees who were anxious to help in relief efforts following the Boxing Day natural disaster.
Cooke said the employees involved are helping out on their own time and will not be paid for the efforts, although she added the airline will cover their expenses.
Cooke could not say how many employees had volunteered.
"We had a significant number of employees come forward wanting to volunteer to be part of the mission. Whether that was as simple as working at the airport getting the relief mission organized, working on the ramp, or with the cargo, right down to the crews that will operate the flight," said Cooke.
She also said of our pilots taking the controls for a leg of one of the flights is a retiring captain who wants to make his last flight part of this relief flight.
The online source for news sports entertainment finance and business news in Canada
Copyright (C) 2005 The Canadian Press (CP), All rights reserved
1/4/05
TORONTO, Jan 04, 2005 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) --
The first relief agency flights from Canada to tsunami-stricken Indonesia are expected to take off from Toronto this week.
The first of the two Air Canada cargo flights will leave Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, ferrying aid workers and more than 40,000 kilograms of desperately needed supplies.
A second plane will carry more than 85,000 kilograms of relief supplies to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday, said Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke.
The relief material, supplied by the World Vision Canada, is headed for Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh region.
"Things like dried food, water purification tablets, clothing, blankets, tarps, tents, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, which might sound funny, but soap and that sort of thing are very important now because of the risk of disease," said Judy Burrell, a spokeswoman for World Vision Canada of the supplies.
"Some of it was on hand - we do store things in bulk ahead of time just in case - some if it did come from storage facilities, but the rest of it was donated by companies."
As of Tuesday, World Vision Canada had raised $8 million for the tsunami relief effort - part of the millions donated to charitable organizations by Canadians. The federal government has said it will match donations by individual Canadians up to Jan. 11.
Large charitable organizations say they prefer cash and not donations of food or clothing. They buy the items they need in bulk overseas, which reduces sorting, storage and shipping costs.
But Air Canada made an offer of two flights to World Vision Canada that the charity couldn't refuse.
"It was really terrific. We would rather people give us cash because you save a lot of money if you buy things there and in bulk. Transportation is a huge cost, but with Air Canada making this donation to us, we took advantage of it," said Burrell.
Air Canada made the offer after being approached by employees who were anxious to help in relief efforts following the Boxing Day natural disaster.
Cooke said the employees involved are helping out on their own time and will not be paid for the efforts, although she added the airline will cover their expenses.
Cooke could not say how many employees had volunteered.
"We had a significant number of employees come forward wanting to volunteer to be part of the mission. Whether that was as simple as working at the airport getting the relief mission organized, working on the ramp, or with the cargo, right down to the crews that will operate the flight," said Cooke.
She also said of our pilots taking the controls for a leg of one of the flights is a retiring captain who wants to make his last flight part of this relief flight.
The online source for news sports entertainment finance and business news in Canada
Copyright (C) 2005 The Canadian Press (CP), All rights reserved