Global manufacturing giant Boeing has pledged its support for Australia’s military personnel through its sponsorship of the 2018 Invictus Games, the Australian War Memorial and two veterans’ groups.
The announcement of “nearly $1 million over two years” in funding was made at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.
Boeing said its support of the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded, injured and ill servicemen and women, both active duty and veteran, would involve both financial sponsorship and employee volunteers. The recently-engaged Prince Harry launched the event in 2014 and is an Invictus Games ambassador. The games will be held in Sydney in October 2018.
Meanwhile, the company said it would also help support the Australian War Memoria’s plans to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Hamel, which took place in July 1918 and is considered among historians as a turning point in World War I.
Finally, Boeing said it would support Soldier On, an organisation that focuses on helping modern-day veterans and their families, as well as the American Australian Association’s Veterans’ Fellowship Fund.
Boeing said in a statement the company had about 20,000 veterans as employees around the world, representing about 20 percent of its total workforce.
Closer to home, the company said some 20 percent of its roughly 2,000 employees at Boeing Defence Australia and Insitu Pacific, were veterans.
“The fact is that veterans make us better – as a business and as a society – and there is no better time than at the end of Boeing’s 90th year in Australia to celebrate that fact and honour those who served in the defence of Australia and global security,” Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific president Maureen Dougherty said in a statement.
“Invictus Games Sydney 2018 promise to be a wonderful event and it serves as a powerful reminder of the incredible contributions and sacrifices made by our current and former servicemen and women and their families and friends,” Dougherty said.
Invictus Games chief executive Patrick Kidd thanked Boeing for its support.
“We are grateful to have Boeing with us on our journey to Invictus Games Sydney 2018,” Kidd said.
“Together, our mission is to inspire the Australian community to embrace our wounded, injured and ill, their families and friends, and create a positive long-term impact as we celebrate their unconquerable spirit.”
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Image thanks to Boeing Dreamscape – K63803, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11235523