AIRASIA JOINS HANDS WITH UNICEF FOR HAITI

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- AirAsia has joined hands with the United
Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in the effort to raise RM438 million (US$128
million) for children and families in earthquake-hit Haiti.

Its group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said AirAsia had
established a dedicated link on its website to allow guests to contribute to the
fund called Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal 2010.

"The AirAsia family wanted to help when we first heard about the tragedy in
Haiti. When Unicef asked us to join them, we readily agreed. Our website
receives about 20 million visitors every month and we carried an estimated of 25
million guests last year," he said in a statement here, Saturday.

Guests can contribute to the fund by visiting www.airasia.com and click on
the link to make donations.

Meanwhile, the Muslim communities in the United States are raising funds to
help Haitians.

"The Zakat Foundation of America is another Muslim-American organisation
aiding the Haitian population.

"Impoverished Haiti is a familiar territory for the Zakat Foundation," the
United States Embassy said in a statement.

It said that Muslim Americans at the local level are donating aid to Haiti
through the Islamic Society of North America and other Muslim-American
organisations.

Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake on Jan 12, which killed over
100,000 people.
-- BERNAMA