Western Union's 31,000 Book Drive for China's Provinces:
International Red-packet Giving Also Gifts Knowledge to Children in
Need This CNY
BEIJING, January 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Western
Union rallies consumers and supporters with the aim to stock
libraries in China's 31
provinces
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in
global payment services, today invited the Chinese community
globally to join a Chinese New Year
drive. The goal is to gift the China Youth Development Foundation
31 libraries of 1,000 books, enough for each of mainland
China's 31 provinces.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120514/531122 )
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/591161 )
Upholding the Chinese tradition of red envelope gifting of cash
during Chinese New Year, Western
Union will make a gift to the China Youth Development Foundation
for every transaction sent from one of 21 countries into
China during the promotional
period.
The company will also donate for every "like" of its post about
the campaign on Facebook and every "reTweet" of its program
announcement on Twitter. The program enables consumers to
promote education for children in need, just by using or 'liking'
Western Union.
The 21 participating countries are the
United States and Canada in
North America; the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Italy and
Russia in Europe and Central
Asia; the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates in the Middle
East; Angola in
Africa; Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia in Asia
Pacific; and Brazil,
Peru, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay in Latin
America.
"Western Union's analysis shows more gifts are given at
Chinese New Year than during any
festive or seasonal holiday around the world. Billions of gifts of
cash are exchanged, traditionally crisp new banknotes wrapped in
red envelopes and increasingly through remittances with over 40
million Chinese living and working overseas," says Drina Yue, Managing Director and Senior Vice
President, Western Union Asia-Pacific.
"As we reach out to friends and family in China in the lead-up to Chinese New Year, just by using Western Union we
are creating opportunity and bringing good fortune to young people
in the year of the snake and beyond. There is no more valuable gift
than the gift of knowledge," she said.
"During the Spring Festival, it's our custom in China to think not only of a new start but
about others. We are delighted that Western Union has created a
platform to gather the good wishes of people from all around the
world to stimulate the curiosity of young people and help them to
prepare for a brighter future." Mr. Chunlei
Yang, Deputy Secretary General of the China Youth
Development Foundation said.
Cash remains the gift of choice during Chinese New Year and represents in Chinese
culture close family ties, devotion and respect of elders and good
fortune for the future, according to Western Union consumer
insights.
The maximum value donated for all transaction and social network
activity between January 28, 2013 and
February 10, 2013 will be
USD50,220, which equates to funding
31 libraries of 1,000 books each. Each qualifying transaction and
social media activation will trigger a donation of USD 0.25.
Chinese New Year falls on
February 10 this year and will see
out the dragon year and welcome the entrance of the snake
This campaign is part of Western Union's Education for Better
program, a three-year commitment to advance global education
goals.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global
payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago
Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment
services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with
fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around
the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of
September 30, 2012, the Western
Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered
through a combined network of approximately 510,000 agent locations
in 200 countries and territories. In 2011, The Western Union
Company completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions
worldwide, moving $81 billion of
principal between consumers, and 425 million business payments. For
more information, visit http://www.westernunion.com.
SOURCE Western Union