What's New

February 25, 2009
Ray Zahab Quest to the South Pole...

Air Canada Kids' Horizons recently sponsored the expedition of Ray Zahab to the South Pole. Ray is the founder of an organization called Impossible2Possible (i2P) a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, educating, and equipping a generation of global problem solvers to achieve environmental and human sustainability.

To this end, i2P hosts "adventures that inspire and educate young people to protect the planet and its people." Their goal is to use adventure to cultivate a generation of young leaders whose direct experience and training prepares them to lead sustainability initiatives.

Ray Zahab is a very charismatic and energetic man. In 2007, he and two other runners made history by running 4300 miles across the entire Sahara Desert, and in the process of raising the bar of what we think possible, also raised awareness for clean-water initiatives in Africa. This feat consisted of 111 consecutive 40 - 50 mile days of running in extreme desert conditions through six countries. Ray conceived of this adventure after a 200 mile foot race in Niger, during which he became much attached to the Sahara and its people, the Tuareg.

Moved by his Sahara experiences, and water issues first hand and its effects on the Tuareg, Ray decided to dedicate his future running expeditions, adventures and life to helping and inspiring children worldwide.

Here is a short text about his latest expedition to the South Pole:

Thanks to Air Canada Kids' Horizons we were able to start...and complete our adventure!

We trekked 1130 km from Hercules Inlet to the Geographic South Pole in a world record time of 33 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes! We shaved 5 days off of the previous record- and in the process I became the first person to trek the entire journey solely on foot- without skis!

My teammates- Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely skied most of the way. Our sleds weighed in at over 85 kilos each at the start- and were loaded down with food, gear and essentially everything we would need to survive our trek across Antarctica.
The best part was that we were able to share our journey with thousands of young people around the world through an elaborate live website...a website that we created as a way to invite these young people to be part of our team and participate by asking questions and following our daily blogs. All of our film equipment and communication equipment was charged by solar- furthering a message of sustainability to our student "team members".

The expedition was featured as a top story in the media all over Canada- and throughout the World- attracting over a billion media impressions and the attention of CBC, CNN, BBC among others!

Of course, our youth "teammates" relished the fact they were a huge contributor to our success! As was our partner Air Canada through their Kids' Horizons program!
Thank you!

If you want to read more about Ray's expeditions, have a look at the websites:
www.impossible2possible.com
and www.southpolequest.com



February 16, 2009
Air Canada Kids' Horizons 2008 Highlights...
  • 10,4 millions Aeroplan miles were donated to Air Canada Kids' Horizons in 2008;
  • 13,9 millions Aeroplan miles were used by pediatric hospitals across Canada for the Hospital Transportation Program allowing hundreds of children to reach medical centers and receive medical care not available in their communities.
  • Air Canada Kids' Horizons' Hospital Transportation Program expanded with the addition of an international component allowing children to come to Canada to receive medical care.
  • Kids' Horizons added a sixth partner: Free The Children. The largest organization helping children through education.
  • Kids' Horizons celebrated its 5th anniversary in October 2008. To celebrate this milestone each of our partners received a five million Aeroplan mile donation:
    • Breakfast Clubs of Canada;
    • Free The Children;
    • Starlight Foundation Canada;
    • Children's Miracle Network;
    • Street Kids International;
    • Dreams Take Flight.
  • Introduction of a new Kids' Horizons video: A Gift of Wings
  • $100,307 was raised with the Every Bit Counts program. This amount includes the proceeds from the collection globes at Pearson Airport in Toronto.

    In addition to Toronto, collection globe containers can now be found at Jean-Lesage Airport in Quebec City.

    A special THANK YOU to Air Canada In-Flight crews for their commitment toward this initiative which allowed us to reach a new height.
  • In July, we have launched a new initiative called: Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP). This new employee initiative was created to recognize the involvement of Air Canada employees in the community by giving them a pair of Air Canada tickets for a fundraising event of their charitable organization.
  • In collaboration wit the Quebec Breakfast Club, Kids' Horizons has been involved in two solidarity missions. The first one to Burkina Faso and the second one to Ecuador. Three Air Canada employees participated in each of these two missions.
  • Air Canada Kids' Horizons coordinated relief efforts following the earthquake in China and the Cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe.
  • "Wings of Courage" initiative expanded with the beginning of activities in two pediatric hospitals in Canada - Vancouver and Calgary. A heartfelt thank you to Tyler Harris and Andrew Kovats, Air Canada pilots for their involvement in this project.
  • The Community Investment group sponsored more than 400 charities which represented over 500 events all across Canada

    Thank you to all Kids' Horizons Ambassadors, across the Air Canada system, to have joined us and represent the company at all of these events.
  • 1757 Tote bags were sold as part of the duty-free product offerings. An increase of 32% from previous year 2007. The proceeds generated from the sale of these bags will be used towards a project for the well-being of children.