Charitable Donations

Change for Good

Cathay Pacific and UNICEF have been running the “Change for Good” inflight fundraising programme since 1991. Travellers on Cathay Pacific flights are encouraged to donate any spare change they have to UNICEF when returning from their journeys. The money collected is used to fund UNICEF’s immunisation programmes and healthcare projects in over 150 developing countries.

Every year, volunteers from Cathay Pacific travel to areas where UNICEF is putting projects into action, enabling them to see how the spare change is being used to change the lives of millions of children. Change for Good raised more than HK$12.3 million in 2010, and since the programme’s inception more than HK$110 million have been collected.

Ticket sponsorship

Cathay Pacific has been supporting members of the community through the donation of millions dollars of air tickets to support their fundraising activities or travel needs. Some of the major beneficiaries in recent years include:

1. Against Child Abuse Ltd
2. Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong
3. Chi Heng Foundation
4. Children's Heart Foundation
5. Dreamflight
6. Half the Sky Foundation
7. Heep Hong Society
8. Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps
9. Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation
10. Hong Kong Cancer Fund
11. Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF
12. Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
13. Hong Kong Parkinson's Disease Foundation
14. Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children
15. Hong Kong Society of the Blind
16. Life Education Activity Programme (LEAP)
17. Make-A-Wish Hong Kong
18. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
19. ORBIS Hong Kong
20. Outward Bound Hong Kong
21. Room-to-Read
22. Sedan Chair Charities Fund
23. Shakespeare4All Company Limited
24. Sowers Action
25. Sunnyside Club
26. Watchdog Early Learning and Development Centre

Relief efforts/ad-hoc fundraising campaigns

Cathay Pacific has responded quickly to help those affected by natural disasters, making charitable donations and launching fundraising campaigns to assist a number of major relief efforts in recent years.

Japan, Yunnan and New Zealand earthquakes in 2011
The Cathay Pacific Group raised more than HK$13 million for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The donation included staff contributions, company matching, the Swire Group Charitable Trust contribution, relief items donation, ticket sponsorship, cargo shipments and “Change for Good” donation. Most of the money went to the Hong Kong Red Cross relief efforts. The Cathay Pacific Group also donated RMB500,000 to the Red Cross to help victims of the Yunnan earthquake. The staff and the public raised some HK$375,000 to help victims of the New Zealand earthquake.

Pakistan Flooding and Gansu Mudslide 2010
In response to the devastating flooding in Pakistan and landslides in Gansu Province, China, the Cathay Pacific Group donated HK$1.5 million to support the relief efforts of UNICEF and non-governmental organisations. The donation included Cathay Pacific and Dragonair staff donations, which the company matched. The airline also helped with the shipment of relief goods to Pakistan.

Qinghai Earthquake 2010
In May 2010, the Swire Group Charitable Trust and the Cathay Pacific Group helped raise HK$5 million to support UNICEF relief efforts in Qinghai, the western China province left devastated by an earthquake. The donation included contributions from staff working for the Cathay Pacific Group and funds raised through the Change for Good inflight fundraising programme, matched by the Trust and the Group.

Taiwan Typhoon Morkot 2009
In September 2009, Cathay Pacific made a donation of NT2,200,000 (approximately HK$520,000), including staff donations and company matching, to help the victims of Typhoon Morakot, which devastated parts of Southern Taiwan. The money was given to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation relief efforts.

Sichuan Earthquake 2008
The Cathay Pacific Group, and Cathay Pacific and Dragonair staff raised more than HK$20 million for victims of the Sichuan earthquake. The donation included contributions from staff, company matching and cargo shipments. Most of the money went to the Hong Kong Red Cross relief efforts.

More than 400 Cathay Pacific Group staff took part in a scarf-knitting initiative launched by the Swire group to provide warm scarves and shawls for Sichuan earthquake victims. More than 15,000 hours of volunteer work led to some 2,000 knitted items.

Continuing the donation effort, in July 2009, more than 6,400 toys and stationery items were given by staff for Sichuan children’s use in the new school year. A field visit to the schools in Sichuan was also made in December 2009.

Asian Tsunami 2005
Cathay Pacific and its staff helped with a major fundraising initiative in the wake of the devastating Asian tsunami, raising more than HK$7 million to help relief efforts.