Sands Cares Ambassadors Attend IAS Community Emergency Volunteer Scheme Training

(Macao, July 22, 2020) – Sands Cares Ambassadors attended a Community Emergency Volunteer Scheme 2020 Training July 17, organised by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS). The training aimed to help volunteers gain an in-depth understanding of the requirements and detailed work involved in the scheme, in preparation for providing effective and timely support to foster local community recovery in times of need.

The training was offered at The Venetian^® Macao’s Adelson Advanced Education Centre, led by representatives from the Youth Volunteers Association of Macau (AJVM). While there, the Sands Cares Ambassadors were introduced to the Community Emergency Volunteer Scheme launched by IAS. They have also gained a comprehensive grasp of the requirements, detailed work and procedures involved, so as to better prepare for providing emergency support services in the future. Sands China is one of the integrated resorts that has been invited to join this scheme. The company targets to have 300 volunteers trained in total by early August, with the first batch of 50 experienced ambassadors completing the training the week of July 13.

In order to cope with the impact that large-scale disasters, typhoons or storm surges may have on the local community, IAS has been implementing its Community Emergency Volunteering Scheme since 2019 in hopes of giving full play to the strength of society by gathering the city’s volunteers and forming a collaborative network, in order to effectively respond to disaster relief and foster recovery. AJVM is one of the associations that offers training for this scheme.

“I previously took part in the company’s volunteer efforts to help clean up the streets and do other typhoon relief work in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato and Typhoon Mangkhut,” said Choi Mio Leng, one participant in the training. “The training has deepened my understanding of the ‘Community Emergency Volunteering Scheme’ and has enabled me to learn more about the details of the relevant support work. It was a really good way for me to prepare myself for providing support to the community’s recovery in times of need, and I hope to serve the community with the insights I picked up during the training, to grow from future experiences and continue to contribute to society.”

The service scope of community emergency volunteers includes: caring for disadvantaged groups in the community by visiting or calling on them, ensuring their safety, and providing necessary services; providing people in need with delivery services for items such as water, dry foods and meal boxes; providing social service centres, such as elderly and rehabilitation homes, with emergency support such as food delivery, social care and clean-up; providing emergency home repair services to families in need; and assisting affected small businesses with the clean-up of shops. The Community Emergency Volunteers Scheme was formulated in line with the 10-year plan for disaster prevention and mitigation introduced by the Macao government.

The Sands Cares Ambassador programme was established in August 2009 to give Sands China team members an outlet for serving the local community by organising community activities and initiatives that work toward creating a better Macao. With membership of more than 3,300 volunteers from across all Sands China properties – Sands^® Macao, The Venetian Macao, The Plaza^® Macao, Sands^® Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao – the Sands Cares Ambassadors have contributed more than 110,000 hours of voluntary community service since the programme’s founding.

The Sands Cares Ambassador programme is part of Sands Cares, the global corporate citizenship programme of parent company Las Vegas Sands Corp.