INTERNATIONAL. Women in Travel Retail (WiTR+) is encouraging members to vote for the charity which will be supported by fundraising efforts in 2024.
Nominations for the 2024 charity closed on December 18. Three nominations meeting all the travel group’s criteria – including a target to raise €15,000 in funds – were received.
They are Asia Centre Foundation (ACF), nominated by Lacoste Travel Retail Director Asia Pacific Erin Lillis, FRASI suggested by Essence Corp Vice President Patricia Bona and Toutes à l’école by Payot International Sales Developer Priscilla Haibe de Walque.
Asia Center Foundation is an independent, interdenominational Christian charity registered as a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) on Phuket, Thailand since 2001. The charity provides education opportunities to disadvantaged and at-risk Thai and Burmese children so they will be empowered to change their futures.
Many of the children come from home environments where there is no safe access to outdoor play areas which means limited movement opportunities. ACF is focused on providing sport and activity opportunities to the children and the suggested football field project could provide a useful space that could be used for various other outdoor sport activities such as general fitness, athletics and family sport days.
FRASI (For Resilience Italian Swiss Association) is a non-profit, founded in Lugano in 2012. The organisation works to support people who find themselves in vulnerable conditions, in particular boys, girls and women, operating in countries where humanitarian crises arise.
Its Bike to School project was born to help prevent boys and girls from dropping out of schools, providing them with means of transportation at a time when Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. FRASI hopes to assist 200 students coming from families with financial difficulties, with good academic performance and living more than 5km away from schools.
Founded in 2005, Toutes à l’école works in Cambodia to provide a high standard of education to the poorest girls, entirely free of charge. With a salary of no more than US$8 a day, some of its students’ families live in deplorable conditions. The renovation of their houses involves repairing the roof, installing running water, toilets, solar lights and a floor to protect against flooding and rats. Since 2019, this project has enabled 50 families to achieve decent and safe living conditions.
Further information about the nominated charities and the specific projects can be found in the Members Section of the WiTR+ website under the tab of Charity Nominations. Voting is open now and will close on 14 January. 
