Passionately Pink AA staff
Published:Tuesday | October 19, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Building on their commitment to fight breast cancer, American Airlines staff here joined their international counterparts last Friday, raising not only awareness, but funds for breast cancer research in a promotion tagged 'Passionately Pink'.
"The over 1,400 passengers who travelled from Jamaica today, between Sangster and Norman Manley international airports were made aware of this critical issue," AA's Country Manager Yvonne Pearson told The Gleaner.
She said her Jamaican staff sold pastries, decorated their counters with pink balloons and streamers and donned 'Passionately Pink' tops in support of the US$1-million fund that the airline committed to pump into the world's largest breast-cancer organisation - Susan G. Komen.
But American Airlines did not stop there, the world's largest carrier also announced last Friday an expanded partnership with the unveiling of two specially co-branded aircraft, an American Airlines Boeing 757 and an American Eagle Embraer 145, each incorporating the renowned vivid pink-ribbon motif.
In a release from the airline, the carrier said the distinctive pink streamers, which extend the full length of the fuselage of the two airplanes, signal a new level of mutual commitment, as it becomes Komen for the Cure's official airline and first-ever Lifetime Promise Partner. The partnership represents a newly created funding category for Komen - called Promise Grants - which are collaborative, interdisciplinary research projects with the strong potential to discover and deliver the cures for breast cancer more quickly.
20-year relationship
"This relationship with Komen spans 20 years and we have committed US$1 million every year for eight years," Pearson said, adding that for the Jamaican activities two captains were identified to coordinate the day's events - Joan Pennicott from Montego Bay and Julette Thompson in Kingston.
"They are the ones who came up with the ideas on how they would raise money for the cause," she noted.
For their part, president and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Hala Moddelmog, described the partnership as one that speaks volumes "about the quality and longevity of American's commitment to Komen, and the way the company and its employees share our sense of urgency in discovering and delivering the cures, and finding ways to prevent breast cancer".
She said her organisation was thrilled that American Airlines would be the first corporation to have a direct hand in writing a significant chapter in breast-cancer research history with its Promise Grant.