Asiana helps children in Vietnam with volunteer day

Full-service air carrier Asiana Airlines said Wednesday that it took part in charity work at a child care center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tuesday, as part of its ongoing corporate social responsibility activities to assist children from low-income families. 

The South Korean air carrier said a volunteer team made up of Asiana employees visited the Thao Nguyen Xanh Center, a child care facility in the Vietnamese city, along with Communication Executive Director Cho Young-seok, UNICEF’s Korean committee Secretary-General Lee Ki-chul and education officials from the Ho Chi Minh City government.

The purpose of the volunteer day was to offer support for children and infants from low-income families who attend one of four child care centers in Ho Chi Minh City, which together care for some 300 children. 

Asiana and UNICEF’s Korean committee joined hands in 2017 to raise 150 million won ($129,680) through its employee payroll fund. Some 300 million won was raised via an in-flight coin collection campaign. 

“Marking our 25th anniversary, our joint campaign with UNICEF to collect in-flight coins has gathered some 14.5 billion won. We also kicked off an infant and child care project, and we will continue to bolster our social responsibility efforts via the partnership with UNICEF,” said Asiana Airlines Executive Director Cho Young-seok.

The project in Ho Chi Minh City involved volunteers from “Bread of Asiana,” a volunteer club for Asiana cabin crew members. The cabin crew members conducted magic shows and held a mini-sports day for the children, the company said. 

Asiana also conducts a volunteer-based “Beautiful Classroom” project in Vietnam in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, which supports vocational training for low-income women in Hai Duong Province.

Asiana Airlines currently flies to four Vietnamese cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Phu Quoc.

(ddd@heraldcorp.com)