TORONTO, Nov. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This festive season, Sunwing and Hakim Optical are partnering to bring holiday cheer to local children in destinations across the Caribbean and Mexico. From now until January 6, 2020, the Sunwing Foundation will be collecting new and gently-used children’s books at select Hakim Optical locations across the Greater Toronto Area. As a thank you for their generosity, customers who make a book donation in store will receive a $50 Hakim Optical gift card for prescription eyeglasses and can enter a contest to win an all inclusive vacation for two adults and two children to Riu Emerald Bay in Mazatlán.

Donations collected at Hakim Optical locations will be flown to destinations across the Caribbean and Mexico on board Sunwing Airlines, where they’ll be distributed to local school children as part of the Sunwing Foundation’s Flying Start initiative. Established in 2018, the Flying Start initiative aims to provide students in the destinations that Sunwing serves with all the essential tools and building blocks for a successful education. To date, the Flying Start initiative has supported communities across Jamaica, Tobago, Antigua & Barbuda and the Dominican Republic.

Stephen Hunter, CEO of Sunwing Travel Group, commented on the initiative. “All too often children’s reading books are discarded or left to gather dust in basements when their owners have outgrown them. The Flying Start program seeks to find new homes for gently-used children’s reading books with children across the Caribbean and Mexico who often do not have the resources to have their own personal library. Reading is key to a child getting a successful education and we appreciate this partnership with Hakim Optical and the generosity of Torontonians in helping us give children a Flying Start this holiday season.”

The Sunwing Foundation operates in the form of project funding and transport of humanitarian aid. Sunwing matches all donations received through its Spare Change Program on board Sunwing Airlines, no administrative fees are collected and 100% of the proceeds go to the communities that need it the most.

For a full list of Hakim Optical locations participating in this initiative, click here. For more information on the Sunwing Foundation please visit www.sunwingfoundation.com

About the Sunwing Foundation

A charitable initiative established by the Hunter family, the Sunwing Foundation reflects the Sunwing Travel Group’s enduring commitment to the support and development of youth in the communities where it operates in the form of project funding or the transport of humanitarian aid. Sunwing Travel Group matches all donations the Foundation receives through its Spare Change Program on board Sunwing Airlines, no administrative fees are collected and 100% of the proceeds go to the communities that need it the most, funding educational and skills development projects to provide a direct, impactful and sustainable improvement to quality of life for years to come. Launched in 2018, the Flying Start initiative is designed to donate books, backpacks and other essential school materials to ensure a successful education for children in need across the destinations we serve.

For all media enquiries, please contact:

Rachel Goldrick
Senior Corporate Communications Manager
Sunwing Vacations
1-800-387-5602 | media@sunwing.ca 

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7556957a-ed0a-423f-890e-282a96bd72c3

Sunwing Foundation

Sunwing and Hakim Optical are partnering to bring holiday cheer to local children in destinations across the Caribbean and Mexico.