ISRAEL. The Israeli Paralympic Committee has appointed Andrew Danos, Group Executive at family-owned James Richardson Group, as Honorary President of the Israeli Paralympic Team.
Danos will accompany the Paralympic delegation in all events and competitions from now until and including the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
The appointment of Danos stems from the long-standing support of Australia’s Mandie/Danos family in Jewish and Israeli sports. It continues the involvement of Andrew Danos (grandson of James Richardson and JR/Duty Free founder David Mandie) in disabled sports in Israel.
James Richardson has supported many different sporting groups both in Israel and Australia with a focus on the underprivileged and disabilities. James Richardson Duty Free is the major sponsor of the Israeli Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament and Danos, son of James Richardson owner Evelyn Danos (daughter of David Mandie) was pivotal in bringing the World Team Cup of Wheelchair Tennis to Israel in 2019.
Danos is also a member of the Advisory Board of Shalva (the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities) and a Director of the Israel Australia Chamber of Commerce.
James Richardson Duty Free in Israel trades as JR/Duty Free, James Richardson – a joint venture between JR and Gebr Heinemann of Germany.
Andrew Danos said: “As a third generation of a family that has contributed greatly to Israeli and Jewish sports, it is the greatest honour of my life to be nominated as the Honorary President of the Israeli Paralympic Team.
“Watching the incredible athletes perform in their various sports is not only a story of inspiration and passion, but also an opportunity to see world-class sporting performances. I wish all athletes the very best of luck and look forward to seeing Israeli athletes bringing home the medals.”
The Chairman of the Paralympic Committee, Dr. Shuki Dekel, thanked Danos and said: “We are very proud of our young Honorary President and delighted that he will accompany us on this journey. We know the history of his Zionist family and appreciate its contribution to Jewish sports in Israel and Australia. I’m sure that Andrew will lead our athletes to impressive achievements.
“James Richardson Duty Free will be the major sponsor of the Israeli Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2020.”
The Paralympic Games will open in Tokyo on 25 August, with some 4,450 athletes competing for ten days in 22 sports categories. The next few months will determine the assembly of the Israeli delegation for the Paralympic Games. 18 athletes have already secured their place in Tokyo. The ultimate team size is likely to be similar to the will be similar to the size of the delegation to Rio, about 30 athletes. This time, about half of them are women.
COMMENT: Given its Olympian theme, it’s nice to see the torch, as it were, of Corporate Social Responsibility being passed down the generations at James Richardson, writes Martin Moodie.
The family behind one of travel retail’s most enduring family companies has long espoused a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and to giving back to the community in its twin bases of Israel and Australia (JR/Duty Free in Australia was sold to Lotte Duty Free in late 2018).
David Mandie was a great pioneer of the travel retail industry. His principles and values, as well as his business acumen, clearly run through the family bloodline.