Porsche deepens commitment to empowering the future with UNICEF in ChinaPorsche China donates two more Cayenne and 5 million RMB to extend partnership until 2014
Shanghai/Kunming. Porsche China announced it is expanding its support of the Mobile Educational and Training Resource Units (METRU) programme it conducts in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) at a ceremony held at the Porsche Centre Kunming on December 15. Increasing all original project parameters, Porsche donated two more Cayenne SUVs, lengthened the partnership period by two years and pledged to extend the reach of its assistance to Yunnan Province. To support the extended operations, Porsche also contributed a further 4,948,762 million RMB, of which the Porsche Centres of Wenzhou and Xi’an each donated one million RMB and the Porsche Centre Shanghai Puxi sent 274,000 RMB raised by its customers at a charity auction earlier this year. Building on the successful cooperation between UNICEF and Porsche that has delivered aid throughout four counties in Sichuan and Gansu Provinces since the project began on December 7, 2009, the expansion adds to an initial donation of 10 million RMB and four Cayenne. Now covering three provinces for five years with six Cayenne, Porsche China has renewed the METRU programme — from three (2009-2012) to five years (2009-2014).
Since arriving in Sichuan and Gansu, the Cayenne already in service have greatly added to the rapid success of the programme. Part of the broader Porsche “Empowering the Future” initiative launched in response to the need for post-earthquake reconstruction work after 2008, it has already surpassed most of its major goals. The project was created to provide 55,000 students and 3,000 teachers at 500 schools with access to quality education and resources. And only two years after its inception, it has already improved the quality of education for more than 115,000 students and trained more than 7,500 teachers across 430 schools.
“We always feel honoured to have the opportunity to give back to the communities in which we operate, so it gives us great pleasure to be able to expand our commitment to ‘Empowering the Future’ and now also support the children of Yunnan,” said Mr. Helmut Broeker, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche China. “Our goal with UNICEF has always been to improve the long-term prospects of the young people in these regions. That we can help to achieve this by offering the services of our own technology with these unique Cayenne makes this initiative even more special.”
A key component of the expansion, the two additional Cayenne will be used to transport teachers and educational resources to project schools within Yunnan Province. Modified for extensive storage capacity to transport large quantities of diverse supplies and equipped with outstanding off-road abilities to navigate the region’s rugged environments, the speciallymade Cayenne are designed to service rural schools normally considered too isolated to receive regular aid and support.
At the donation and expansion ceremony, more than 50 guests gathered to celebrate the extension of the METRU programme. Attendees included representatives of the Ministry of Education, officials from the Yunnan Education Commission, Porsche Centre representatives and members of the media. They joined Ms. Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF Representative to China, and Mr. Broeker at a signing event and ceremonial handover of the keys to the new Cayenne.
Ms. Mellsop said: “For the past years, we have enjoyed outstanding collaboration with the Ministry of Education towards our joint goal of providing quality teaching and learning opportunities for these disadvantaged children, as well as much-needed support for their teachers. We are delighted to continue this successful partnership, and we are very grateful for the always-generous support from Porsche China with the METRU programme. We sincerely hope our cooperation will continue to deepen and benefit more children throughout China.”
In addition to the recent expansion of the programme, the 10.2 million RMB Porsche China has already contributed will be used to support it through 2012. Before commencing METRU operations in 2009, Porsche also sent 500,000 Euros (equal to RMB 5.4 million) to UNICEF as immediate relief aid after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Since then, with the launch of “Empowering the Future,” Porsche China has continuously worked to help children in need. Outside of the METRU project, Porsche has also partnered with the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute to hold an annual contest for the up-and-coming young artists of Sichuan. After two years of hosting the contest and now three years working with UNICEF, Porsche China’s collective contribution with its Porsche Centres and customers this December confirms once again how the Porsche family continues to go above and beyond in its mission to empower the futures of the underprivileged youth of China.
12/16/2011
