CHICAGO, Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United today
announced that its MileagePlus members can help in the
Afghanistan relief effort by
participating in the airline's mile-raising
platform, Miles on a Mission, and
donate to three non-profit organizations that are using
air travel to transport and support Afghan
citizens. As part of this campaign, United will match
all donations
up to five million miles.
For the last week, United has directly supported
the Department of Defense and its mission to
transport Afghan evacuees to the U.S.
Participating non-profits, include:
- Miles4Migrants: A non-profit that is using miles to book air
travel for Afghans who have left their home country, and need
flight assistance to reach their final destination.
- Americares: A health-focused relief and development
organization mobilizing medical professionals to provide in-flight
medical care on United relief flights to the U.S.
- World Central Kitchen: A food-focused, global relief
organization that will provide meals to Afghan refugees as they
arrive at various locations across the world.
"United has been proud to put our expertise to work and partner
with the Department of Defense over the last week to help urgently
evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan," said Suzi Cabo, managing director of global community
engagement, United Airlines. "We're now ready to offer our
MileagePlus community the opportunity to support those
organizations that are providing critical support to those Afghans
and their families that risked their own lives to help our
servicemen and women. We know our most loyal customers will step up
to support those in need because they always do."
United's mile-raising campaign is an extension of the airline's
ongoing collaboration with Americares, World Central Kitchen and
Miles4Migrants to support the Afghanistan relief efforts. Medical
professionals from Americares have joined United volunteers on
several of the airline's recent relief flights to bring Afghan
refugees, American citizens and service members to the U.S. United
has also supported the efforts of World Central Kitchen at
Washington Dulles International Airport as they provide comforting
meals for all Afghan evacuees arriving in the U.S.
In addition to helping transport Afghan refugees to the U.S.,
United is working with partner organizations to help support the
thousands of refugees who will need to be resettled across the
country once they have been fully processed by the U.S. Government.
United is partnering with Miles4Migrants to provide critically
needed air travel to fly Afghan citizens from several military
bases in the U.S. to their final destinations.
"Like so many, we have been watching the tragic situation in
Afghanistan unfold, and are
working to support Afghans in their time of need however possible,"
said Andy Freedman, co-founder and
managing director at Miles4Migrants. "We are grateful to have the
support of MileagePlus members to help us fly as many Afghan
refugees and other displaced persons from around the world to safe
new homes."
Additionally, United is working closely with Walgreens to ensure
the passengers on the airline's relief flights have all the
critical personal care items they need to comfortably travel.
Walgreens has generously donated personal care and comfort items to
United including diapers, disinfecting wipes, feminine hygiene
products, baby bottles and more, which are being provisioned
onboard United's CRAF flights to the U.S.
So far, United has operated 13 international missions, carrying
more than 3,908 U.S. citizens and Afghan evacuees safely to the
U.S. More than 8,000 United employees have raised their hands to
participate in these missions – working as crew members, onboard
translators, volunteer onboard medics, coordinating the complex
operation and more. Many of these employees have personal or family
ties to Afghanistan and/or are
military veterans.
For more information on United's mile-raising campaign, or to
donate, please visit donate.mileageplus.com.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the
World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on
Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of
UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
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SOURCE United Airlines