Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has expanded its "Dare to Care" charity program worldwide.
"Dare to Care" is a hotel guest donation program on behalf of the Beijing-based Care for Children charity organization. The hotel proram was launched in the group's China hotels in October 2005 and now "Dare to Care" is available for guest participation in Shangri-La locations throughout Asia Pacific.
One of the only foster care organizations working with the Chinese government, Care for Children's slogan is "One in Ten" – a vision of placing one million Chinese orphans into Chinese foster families by 2010. More than 130 orphanages in China have received training from Care for Children and over 40,000 foster placements have been secured with this number growing rapidly.
"Dare to Care" features donation envelopes designed in the traditional style of Chinese "hong baos" (red envelopes) which are placed in restaurant bill folders and on nightly guestroom turndown trays in Shangri-La hotels. Donations can also be made directly upon guest check- out.
"The chance to grow up in a family of their own offers children the best start in life. It is with the help and support from caring companies such as Shangri-La that we can eventually transform the lives of Chinese orphaned children," said Robert Glover, executive director of Care for Children.
In addition to "Dare to Care," Shangri-La supports Care for Children by sponsoring venues for the charity's events and workshops and conducting grassroots hotel-level fundraising. In June 2006, it staged the "Journey to Shangri-La," believed to be the first charity auction by a luxury hotel group to list over US$100,000 of travel experiences online on eBay. Shangri-La is Care for Children's first and only hotel group corporate partner.
"We support Care for Children due to its great work in China, where Shangri-La is the leading luxury hotel group in the country," said Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La's chief executive officer and managing director. "We applaud its vision and are honoured to give our guests the opportunity of showing their support for this worthy cause."
A registered charity in China, the United Kingdom and the United States, Beijing-based Care for Children works in partnership with national and local governments in China to introduce foster care and other strategic initiatives to relieve hardship, distress and sickness and to enrich the lives of orphans and other needy children.
