“Road to Awareness” Bike Ride
2009 – Divisional Fundraising campaign
Background:
In May 2008, 12 Starwood representatives covering each EAME
region and the divisional office initiated the Road to
Awareness bike ride by cycling 450km including Mont Ventoux,
one of the most notorious mountain climbs in the Tour de
France. Their heroic efforts succeeded in raising nearly
250,000 Euros for a child-to-child radio project in
Mozambique, and at the same time marked the introduction of
the Le Méridien hotels to the Check Out for Children
partnership with UNICEF.
Click here for learn more about the
2008 fundraising event, and also
click here to watch the SPG-TV
broadcast from last year.
Even in this current
year of financial constraints, the EAME divisional leadership
team agreed that we should not lose momentum and should continue
our effort to support children in need. Therefore, the 2009
edition of the Road to Awareness Bike Ride is being planned to
build on last year – with a specific new project as described
below in partnership with UNICEF, and with another three day
ride of 360 km from September 4th to 6th that will take a group
of cyclists over some of the most legendary climbs in the French
Pyrenees.
The group of cyclists and fund-raisers will include
representatives from each of our six Regions and executives from
the divisional offices in Brussels. The final team of
approximately 15 cyclists will be announced soon – and will be
led by Guido de Wilde (RVP for the Middle East) and Even
Frydenberg (SVP Operations EAME), as well as including the
following ‘repeat-participants’ from last year’s ride - Massimo
Parlanti (Italy & Central Med), Roland Ohlberger (East & Central
Europe), and Chris Newman (Africa & Indian Ocean) amongst
others.
Cause = Street
Children in Egypt project with UNICEF:
The 2009 “Road to
Awareness” will have an objective to raise at least US$150,000
to support a UNICEF project focused on helping Street Children
in Egypt. The main objective of this UNICEF project is to
provide social, medical and psychosocial support to 2,000 street
children in Greater Cairo and protect them from violence, abuse
and risky behaviors.
Street children are one of the most vulnerable groups in society
because they are at high risk of violence, sexual abuse,
substance abuse and health problems, and this project is
addressing the needs of street children to re-integrate them
into society. In 2001, NGOs estimated that between 600,000 and
one million street children, with an average of 13 years of age,
were living in the urban areas of Egypt. Precise numbers have
been challenging to pinpoint given the children’s mobility.
Since 2007, around 18,000 children have been reached by the
UNICEF-supported Risk Reduction project for Street Children (RiSC)
with funding from British Airways Change for Good campaign, and
which is bringing incredible results so far. Starwood’s 2009
Road to Awareness 2009 will fund Phase 2 of the project, with
more focus on prevention of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted
Infections (STIs), and on providing more training to health
officers/social workers who are providing social services to
children working and living on the streets.
The specific targets of this new ‘Street Children Project’ in
Egypt are as follows:
-
Provide social
services to 2,000 children who have never attended a
reception center before;
-
Build the
capacity of 45 social workers and counselors to enhance
their skills and competencies to outreach, educate and
support children in street situations; These include
specific plans to enhance HIV education and life skills
training, as well as building Child Friendly Services
including medical care, psycho-social support and HIV
counseling;
-
To ensure that
the funding has a long-term impact on street children living
in Cairo, UNICEF will strengthen partnerships and provide
training to Child Protection Committees (CPCs) at the
government and district levels towards raising awareness on
children in street situations and addressing their needs in
a systematic manner. UNICEF will also be working closely
with the Ministry of Education to develop a more tailored
educational program for re-integrating street children back
into the mainstream schooling system.
Starwood has a strong
presence and a long history of operations in the country of
Egypt, including the Sheraton Cairo Hotel, Towers & Casino now
in the final stages of a complete renovation. Furthermore, we
are hoping to be successful in soon receiving authorization from
the Egyptian ministry/regulators to enable ‘re-activation’ of
the Check Out for Children fundraising program with UNICEF in
our 10 Starwood hotels in Egypt – and in this way, the Bike Ride
would also truly mark a new “Road to Awareness” also for UNICEF
and for Check Out for Children in the entire country of Egypt!
Stay tuned for further updates on StarwoodOne on the Road to
Awareness ride and fundraising campaign as we get closer to
the dates in September!
Details on how to Donate
 |
