Announcing four new fund recipients in support of education, hunger, safe drinking water and recycling efforts worldwide 

The Treadright Foundation has just announced four Tread the Pledge Fund recipients will each be awarded a $2,500 USD grant to help them continue their efforts in supporting local communities around the world. Created as a joint initiative between The Travel Corporation's (TTC) family of brands, The TreadRight Foundation is a not-for-profit supporting the sustainable development of tourism through the funding of leading organizations world through the foundation's three pillars: Planet, People and Wildlife.  In addition, TreadRight also sets the direction for sustainability within TTC and its 42 award-winning travel brands.  Despite the halt in travel, TreadRight will continue to fund all current projects throughout 2020. 

“Our Travel Directors see first-hand the impact of the travel industry on the environment, wildlife and communities, and they are deeply passionate about TreadRight and TTC's mission to make travel matter,” says Ulla Hefel Böhler, CEO of Insight Vacations. 

“Each time I have the opportunity to meet with our Travel Directors, they are always eager to share an update of the incredible projects they are personally invested in, and we knew as an organisation that we had to find a way to say thank you to them. We decided to create an annual grant to support these smaller organizations close to the hearts of our team members, which don't necessarily qualify for ongoing TreadRight funding,” notes Gavin Tollman, CEO of Trafalgar Travel.  

The inaugural fund recipients are spread out globally, with some on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response. TreadRight and TTC are thrilled to award the 2020 Tread the Pledge Fund to:  
 

1. RPJ Helping Hands in Cape Town, South Africa nominated by Insight Vacations Travel Director Mark Moresby-White. RPJ Helping Hands is a not-for-profit dedicated to feeding the homeless and hungry twice a week, averaging 2,000 meals per month. Due to COVID-19, their beneficiaries have increased 6-fold, and they're on the frontlines to ensure more than 3,000 meals are being served at a time. 

2. Smiling Children Italia in Kenya was nominated by Insight Vacations Travel Director Karin Kollarova. Smiling Children Italia sponsors children in Kenya, enabling them to attend either primary or secondary school and is started by Karin's fellow colleague at Insight Vacations. Lorena Schiavon, who is a Travel Director for Insight Vacations, initiated this charity and personally contributes much of her free time to provide the children with school material, clothing, books, and arranging transportation during the holidays between their home and school.  
   

3. Clean and Proud in Mzuzu, Malawi, nominated by Collette Engstrom, Travel Director for Trafalgar and Costsaver. Clean and Proud collects and upcycles single-use plastic waste into handicrafts along with unique, locally sourced fabrics, which are then distributed to tourists in Malawi and wholesalers in Europe. In response to COVID-19, they've developed hygiene packs that include face masks. They are also investigating potential solutions to the challenge of accessing reliable and clean electricity in Malawi's rural communities. 

4. Walkers4Water/Charity Water (global), nominated by Aryan Taefi, Travel Director for Trafalgar and Costsaver. Walkers4Water helps bring clean water to thousands of people in remote communities by raising funds, 100% of which goes to the project which donors can then directly track online. Their most recent project was in Mali. 

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, one in 10 jobs worldwide are supported by the travel and tourism industry. This means the current “pause” in global travel has directly impacted millions of people in its workforce, with 75.2 million job losses projected.  

For more information, please visit TreadRight.org to hear more about these projects as they're launched throughout the month of May and please join us as we #MakeTravelMatter by signing The Pledge. 

About the TreadRight Foundation:  

Created as a joint initiative between The Travel Corporation's (TTC) family of brands, The TreadRight Foundation is a not-for-profit working to safeguard the planet, wildlife & people for generations to come. TreadRight's mission is to #MakeTravelMatter through conservation, leadership and support for communities. To date, TreadRight has supported over 55+ sustainable tourism projects in 280+ communities worldwide. Foundation priorities are set by the Steering Committee. Past project partners include WWF, Conservation International, WildAid, The Travel Foundation and The National Trust in the UK. Current initiatives include the Wildlife Conservation Society's Big Cat fund, WE.org and inspiring nature advocates like Céline Cousteau, Costas Christ and Terri Irwin. To learn more about our past and current work at TreadRight, please visit us at treadright.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using our hashtag #MakeTravelMatter.