In the spirit of Thanksgiving, American Airlines and DHL have partnered to bring joy to 100 Phoenix-area foster children by donating 100 new rolling duffle bags to Child Crisis Arizona, an organization that provides foster children with prevention, intervention and education programs designed to support their needs.
The bags will include luggage tags and amenity kits from American, along with handwritten notes from the DHL team members who organized this special donation.
“After talking with our partners at DHL, we felt that together, we could really make a difference in the lives of foster children in our community this holiday season,” said Elizabeth Pond, Regional Sales Director at American Airlines. “At American, our mission is to care for people on life’s journey and that’s exactly what this is about. Our hope is for these bags to help the children build confidence and know that they are loved and cared for.”
The bags will be distributed to children currently in Child Crisis Arizona’s emergency shelter, as well as those currently in foster homes in their program. Last year, the organization provided 78,116 safe nights of sleep to 656 children.
“Often children enter our shelter with their very few belongings in a trash bag,” said Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona. “Regardless of how these children come to us we are always working to make sure they leave our care with dignity. This donation will help us do that. We are so grateful to American Airlines and DHL for believing every single child matters and for supporting our vision of safe kids, strong families.”
According to the Arizona Department of Child Safety, there are more than 13,000 children in foster care in Arizona today. While in foster care, children are moved an average of three times.
As transportation companies, American and DHL felt that supporting foster children was the perfect way to make an impact in the Phoenix community.
“DHL is committed to strengthening the communities we serve, and that starts with supporting children and families in need,” said Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express. “This holiday giving season, we’re grateful to be able to combine efforts with American Airlines to impact the lives of dozens of kids across Arizona, while spreading a bit of holiday cheer in the community.”
The bags were delivered to Child Crisis Arizona on Thursday by DHL after being assembled by American team members at their Rio Campus in Tempe, AZ.
