AccorHotels is continuing its Stay for Brightness program, a three-year corporate social responsibility initiative it began in 2014 in partnership with Orbis.

The program helps prevent childhood blindness and eyesight loss in rural China, and aims to build a pediatric treatment network for children in need of affordable quality eye care services and training facilities for eye specialists and doctors through donations in kind or cash.

So far, the funds raised by AccorHotels have brought greater awareness of the Orbis program in Heilongjiang and Gansu provinces.

In Heilongjiang, the hotel group has sponsored 75 pairs of spectacles for underprivileged children and provided 1,005 preventive programs to educate parents and teachers on eye care. In Gansu, AccorHotels has provided surgery subsidies for eight children with eye problems.

"This program reinforces our commitment to corporate social responsibility and giving back to local communities," Michel Molliet, chief operating officer for AccorHotels Greater China, said earlier this year.

The Darkness To Go Dinner in Hong Kong was one of the fund raising events organized by AccorHotels, together with charity walks and an open golf event in Beijing.

In 2014 and 2015, Stay for Brightness fundraising campaigns were major focuses during AccorHotels' Solidarity Week where hotel staff were encouraged to support an association that helps the underprivileged within their local communities.

Every minute, a child goes blind somewhere in the world and 80 percent of them do not have access to proper eye care.

George Smith, director of Orbis North Asia, said, "Orbis is honored to partner with AccorHotels for the Stay for Brightness program again this year.

"The program has not only provided funds to prevent and treat eye diseases in young children, but also raised significant awareness surrounding childhood blindness. We look forward to a fruitful relationship with AccorHotels to continue improving the lives of the underprivileged."

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/23/2016 page10)