The airline marks ten years of serving the US by donating 10,000 books and educational resources to low-income families in New York City
In honour of the tenth anniversary of serving the US and as part of its commitment to the local communities, Qatar Airways is distributing 10,000 books to children of New York City.
The books are part of Qatar Airways Summer Reading Program with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new, high-quality books and resources to children in need.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said they are pleased to partner with First Book, and to support children and families in New York through the programme.
We value our shared vision with First Book in encouraging bright futures for communities in need. As a global airline, we recognise that it is our responsibility to assist the communities that we serve. In providing the necessary educational resources to children and students to help them succeed, we hope to ignite a life-long interest in exploring; both through the joy of reading and travelling.’
The First Book partnership aims to put books and educational resources into the hands of children from low-income families as well as address the issue of ‘summer slide,’ where students’ education lags due to lack of educational engagement over the summer school holidays. Since the organisation’s founding in 1992, First Book has distributed more than 160 million books and educational resources to programmes and schools serving children from low-income families.
First Book President and CEO Kyle Zimmer said they are grateful to Qatar Airways for their generous donation of 10,000 books to students in New York.
But even more, we are inspired by Qatar Airways’ commitment to spreading the joy of reading, and the positive experience it has created for these students, with members of their own community who care about their future.’
To launch the initiative and to further reach out to the New York City community, Qatar Airways’ renowned Cabin Crew attended the event in Brooklyn, where they distributed the books and read to 100 children, sharing their experiences as well as the value of education and travel. Cabin Crew also stayed in New York to celebrate Qatar Airways’ sponsorship of the NYC Formula E ePrix – once again linking education, technology and community outreach.
The initiative aligns with Qatar Airways’ ongoing commitment to children’s education through the Educate a Child programme. Qatar Airways continues to support the communities in which it serves via programmes designed to inspire love for exploration through reading and travel.
Last month, Qatar Airways announced the renewal of its partnership with the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation for the third consecutive year. Since 2014, Qatar Airways has worked hand-in-hand with EAC to raise more than $2.6 million for the programme. Additionally, last year 500 students each received their first book for the summer, courtesy of Qatar Airways and the Atlanta Public Schools, to kick-start the School’s Out, Reading Is In! programme.
Qatar Airways’ first flight to the United States was on 28 June, 2007, to New York City, closely followed by service to Washington, DC the following month. 2016 was a particularly busy year in the US for the airline, as it launched flights to Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta, taking the total number of gateways into North America to 10, including Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami and Philadelphia, to name a few. As part of its continuing expansion efforts within the country, Qatar Airways will launch service to San Francisco, California in next year.
Check this link for more information about Qatar Airways’ Educate a Child programme.
