Jet Airways, India’s premier, full-service international airline, recently concluded its annual Joy of Giving programme that encourages employees to embrace the carrier’s culture of philanthropy by doing their bit for society’s less privileged.

Undertaken annually, the internal, organisation-wide initiative leverages the airline’s strong pan-India presence and its well-diversified employee base, to engage with a host of NGOs and other institutions serving the cause of the less privileged, particularly children, women and senior citizens all across the country.

In contrast to Jet Airways’ Magic Box initiative which involves the airline’s guests, Joy of Giving is an internal, employee-driven program which promotes employee sensitization, camaraderie as well as their engagement on a voluntary basis with humanitarian issues facing the society they live and operate in.

Jayaraj Shanmugam, Executive Vice President, Products & Services, Jet Airways, said, “At Jet Airways, we take our commitment to society very seriously and the culture of giving back is deeply ingrained as part of our airline’s ethos. We associate with numerous NGOs on various initiatives all year round which, include the ‘Joy of Giving’ programme. It is truly heartening about this initiative is to see our colleagues from across India embrace our culture of philanthropy. Year after year they turn out in overwhelming numbers to volunteer to do their bit and make a difference in the lives of the less privileged sections of society.”

This year, the unique initiative saw Jet Airways’ employees visit NGOs and foster care homes in several cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Jaipur, Chennai, Udaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram to not only spend time with the affected people but also donate cash as well as significant amounts of resources such as stationary, eatables, food, household items, clothes and even movie tickets. The airline’s employees also interacted with the children during their visits and shared their experiences about aviation. They also participated in fun activities with the children.

Some of the institutions with whom employees engaged include the Sunshine Foundation, Mother Teresa Foundation, My Home – Old Age Home, Mathra Chaya Mandiram Orphange, Samarpan Sansthan, Good Life Centre, Dindayal Foster, Anneshwa and Sandesh.

Jet Airways has always supported causes related to child development and education in the community in which it operates. The airline utilizes these platforms to open up the world of aviation to these children and give wings to their aspirations.