DHL Express, along with their partners, the Phoenix Sports Club, have raised over €7,000 for charity from the first three editions of the DHL Plane Pull Malta.
Charles Schiavone, Country Manager of DHL Express Malta, Orlando Bonnici, President of Phoenix Sports Club, and Gordon Buhagiar, President of the Basketball Section of Phoenix Sports Club, made a donation of €3,000 to Dr Victor Calvagna, Chairman of Puttinu Cares, last Friday, September 30, 2016, at DHL Express’s offices in Luqa.
The Puttinu Cares Cancer Support Group was set up in 2002. The initial idea built on a desire to offer a holistic approach of care for families with children suffering from cancer. Dr Calvagna and Puttinu Cares CEO Rennie Zerafa were the founders of this group.
Dr Calvagna thanked the team who worked ceaselessly to make this third edition of the DHL Plane Pull Malta a success. He said the money would go to a fund that is being built for the charity to acquire more properties in England where families with children suffering from cancer can be accommodated closer to the centre of London where the main cancer hospitals are situated.
He said the apartments in Sutton, which have now been paid off, are fully utilised and assistance is also given to families who do not find accommodation in Sutton.
Mr Schiavone said that every year the sum collected from this initiative had gone up: €1,500 in 2014, €2,500 last year and €3,000 this year. Twelve teams – a total of 214 persons – took turns on 21 September, 2016, to pull the 68-tonne DHL Express Boeing 757-200 Freighter aircraft throughout the day, along with strongman Tony Farrugia.
The added element in the plane pull was a race against time – to see how quickly the various teams could pull the plane over a distance of 20 metres. The fastest time of 31.31 seconds was set by a group of Elbros employees, whose company donated €1,000.
There were two teams from the Police, with both Interior Minister Carmelo Abela and Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, being present to urge them on.
DHL Express and the Phoenix Sports Club would like to thank the following volunteers who helped ensure the event was a success: the Puttinu Cares volunteers, members of the Phoenix Sports Club, DHL Express staff, Safi Aviation Park, AVISEC, Malta International Airport, Malta Air Traffic Services, Air Malta Engineering, Altitude Global Ltd for the DHL aircraft’s engineers, AME, who conducted the risk assessment, the St John Rescue Corps and MJN Communications.