[IMAGECAPTION]PHOTO: Qatar Airways donates books to NYC schoolchildren. (photo courtesy of Qatar Airways)[IMAGECAPTION]
Qatar Airways is committed to giving back and, in celebrating its 10th anniversary of serving the U.S. market, the airline distributed 10,000 books to New York City children.
"Qatar Airways is pleased to partner with First Book, and to support children and families in New York through the 'Qatar Airways Summer Reading Project.' We value our shared vision with First Book in encouraging bright futures for communities in need, specifically supporting their children," said Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker.
"As a global airline, we recognize that it is our responsibility as a global corporate citizen to assist the communities in which we serve. In providing the necessary educational resources to children and students to help them succeed, we hope to ignite a lifelong interest in exploring; both through the joy of reading and traveling," Al Baker added.
Qatar partnered with First Book to make the contribution. First Book is dedicated to ensuring ongoing educational opportunities for low-income families.
They assist with giving books and educational resources to children and aim to combat "summer slide" by distributing more than 160 million books and resources to programs and schools that serve disadvantaged families.
"We are so grateful to Qatar Airways for their generous donation of 10,000 books to underserved students in New York," said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book. "But even more, we are inspired by Qatar Airways' commitment to spreading the joy of reading, and the positive reading experience it has created for these students, with members of their own community who care about their futures."
Qatar's cabin crew attended the event in Brooklyn that distributed books and resources to 100 children. The crew read stories and interacted with the children.
First Book is not the only educational program that Qatar contributes to. The airline has an ongoing commitment to education and also has partnerships with Education Above All, Educate A Child (EAC).
Qatar has helped to raise more than $2.6 million for EAC and, last year, the airline donated 500 books to the Atlanta Public Schools'"School's Out, Reading Is In!"
Qatar has been serving the U.S. for 10 years now. Its first U.S.-bound flight took off on June 28, 2007, landing in New York City. Over the years, the airline has added numerous U.S. destinations and currently operates out of 10 U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Earlier this summer, the airline was one of a number of Gulf carriers was caught up in the laptop ban, but the ban was lifted earlier this month and travelers are now free to use all personal electronic devices onboard Qatar Airways' planes.
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