Sands China Garners Special Olympics’ Highest Honour for Health Partners

Sands China Ltd. considers it part of its corporate social responsibility to give back to the local community and to promote social inclusion. With its extraordinary efforts toward fulfilling the goals, values, and mission of Special Olympics’ global health programme, the company was presented with “The Golisano Health Leadership Award 2020,” the highest honour for health partners or individuals that Special Olympics awards, at the “2021 MSO Flag Day Prize Ceremony and Bocce Experience” on 30 May.
Established in 1968, Special Olympics is a global organization that serves athletes with intellectual disabilities, working with hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches each year, offering them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.
Prior to the award presentation, Sands Cares Ambassadors played bocce with some 100 students and Macau Special Olympics (MSO) service users on the lawn next to The Venetian Macao, in hopes of driving social inclusion through this healthy and simple game for all to enjoy.
“We are delighted to learn that our long-term cooperation partner, Sands China, has won the 2020 Golisano Health Leadership Award,” said Hetzer Siu, National Director of MSO. “The award is in recognition of the work of Macao Special Olympics and Sands China in improving the health of people with intellectual disabilities over the past years.”
In fact, Sands China has worked with MSO to promote social integration through various initiatives at the local level since 2005. They hit a key milestone in 2014, when Sands China started its sponsorship and support to the MSO Healthy Athletes Program, which provides free medical examinations and screening services to identify health issues for 5,000 MSO service users; 500 children and young adults with intellectual disabilities have enjoyed follow-up treatments fully funded by the programme to date.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sands China has striven to promote MSO service users’ physical and mental health since last year by engaging in a number of outreach activities, such as a tour to the Giant Panda Pavilion and a parent-child health carnival. Not only has this initiative improved the health of these individuals, but also enhanced their families’ quality of lives.
“Corporate social responsibility is an integral part of our company’s core values,” Sands China Ltd. President Dr. Wilfred Wong remarked. “We are very pleased to be recognised for making changes to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and helping build an inclusive community. Our thanks go to the volunteers from the company and Macau Special Olympics for coming together for this very worthwhile cause.”