EXPLORE CARE "WALK THE EXTRA MILE" FOR 3,000 ORPHANS
(Press release 1 June 2011)

Someone once said; “Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life”. This saying will also hold truth for some 3,000 orphans when they will each receive new shoes to wear to school with the hope and dream that they will be able to change their lives for the better.

When the 2012 school term starts in January next year, these 3,000 children will have brand new footwear courtesy of Explore Care – the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Explorer Tourism Network (ETN), one of Malaysia’s leading Business-to-Business (B2B) Tourism Destination Developer.

Explore Care is “walking the extra mile” and is calling for all managers and caretakers of orphanages throughout Malaysia to send in their requests for new school shoes for the orphans under their care.

To apply for the shoes, managers of orphanages throughout the country will need to provide the following materials to the Explore Care Secretariat by 16 July 2011.

• A photocopy of the home/organizations SSM registration certificate (to confirm full name of certificate)
• A photocopy of the approval letter from the Welfare Department (JKM)
• Full address of orphanage
• Telephone contact number
• Email address & website address (if available)
• Name of orphanage Manager and/or Caretaker
• Number of schooling orphans in Home
• A list of name (in full), age, gender, school Name, IC number or Birth certificate number

"Our vision for Explore Care is to lift a hand, light a heart and help a life, which is aimed at uplifting the values and needs of the society and the community," said Herman Lim, Chief Executive Officer of Explorer Tourism Network.

"Driven by the whole team at ETN, we try to initiate charity efforts such as visits, cash donations, provision of footwear, school uniforms and food supplies for the underprivileged such as the finally poor, mentally and physically handicapped, orphans, old folks and those who are neglected by society; and this year we have decided to pool our resources to give away free school shoes to orphans," he added.

To be eligible, orphanages must be well managed and registered with the Welfare Department of Malaysia (JKM). The shoes will be provided to school-going orphans between the ages of 6 to 16 years old.

Details (hardcopy) can be submitted via mail to:

Details (softcopy) can be submitted via email to explorercare@etn.my

Applications are on a first-come-first-serve basis and successful homes will be notified by September 2011. The school shoes will be delivered to the homes before the start of the 2012 school session.

Forrest Gump said; "Momma always says there’s an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes. Where they’re going. Where they’ve been."

"For the 3,000 orphans who will receive their new shoes, we know they’ll proudly wear them to school; and hopefully that will pave the way to greater heights for them," said Lim.

ETN is an integrated tourism specialist whose core business lies in Business to Business (B2B) Tourism Development, National Tourism Development and People Development. The company’s main role is to develop and build market opportunities for the tourism industry through the transfer of destination product knowledge, the design and development of innovative packages, providing competitive value-for-money rates and ground inventories. For more information on this initiative or Explore Care, please log on to www.etn.my