Sunil Tuli: Commitment to a wonderful cause
ASIA PACIFIC. Sunil Tuli, Group CEO of King Power Group (Hong Kong) and President of the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA), is seeking support from the travel retail community for a planned trek to Mount Everest Base Camp in September – with the goal to raise funds for cleft charity Smile Train.
As reported, Tuli will begin the 14-day ascent to 5,400 metres on 1 September, and has been vigorously training for the trip, including a recent trip to Nepal to understand the conditions.
As announced at The Moodie Davitt Smile Raising Charity Dinner on Saturday, Tuli originally planned to raise US$35,000, enough to fund 100 surgeries. With pledges already received (including US$2,500 from The Moodie Davitt Report), that figure has already been exceeded. Now Tuli hopes to go far higher, with support from colleagues and friends in travel retail.
As part of his preparation, Tuli recently visited B&B Hospital, a Smile Train partner in Kathmandu, Nepal. There he and his wife Shikha met the Smile Train and local medical team, patients and their parents. The proceeds from his trek will go specifically to that hospital.
“There is such great work being done here,” Tuli wrote in a later note to Smile Train Senior Vice President, Community and Ambassador Development Troy Reinhart, who helped arrange the visit.
“Thanks very much to Renu who is so dedicated and passionate about Smile Train and of course the entire medical team at B&B. Such great people making so much of a difference to lives of little children. We were very impressed and looking forward to working together in our small way.”
Sunil Tuli training in Nepal before embarking on one of the testing treks anywhere in the world
It is estimated that some 170,000 babies in the developing world are born every year with cleft lips and/or palates. Each 45-minute cleft surgery helps to transform the life of a child and that of their families.
Sunil Tuli, ‘Smile Maker’, pictured at the B&B Hospital in Kathmandu. Pictured below with members of the local medical team are Shikha Tuli (centre front in yellow) and Smile Train Area Director – South Asia Renu Mehta (centre, back row)
Over the past 20 years, Smile Train has transformed the lives of more than 1.5 million children, and the travel retail community has played an important part through its fund-raising activities. Smile Train aims to double its reach in the next five years, putting more children than ever before on track to a better future.
The funds raised by Tuli will complement the monies already generously donated by the industry community at The Moodie Davitt Smile Raising event; for details, click here.
To make a pledge to Sunil Tuli’s Everest fund-raising drive, please contact suniltuli@kingpower.com.hk. Details of how to send the money directly to Smile Train will follow.
On location with Smile Train in the Philippines: (Left to right) Smile Train Philippines Program Director Felix Grimares Jr; The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie; Philippine Band of Mercy Medical Director Dr. Hector M. Santos Jr; King Power Group Hong Kong CEO Sunil Tuli; and Smile Train Communications Manager for Southeast Asia Vaninna Davidon
Litte Jiana (‘God is gracious’) has had to undergo several operations but she and her Mum Joanna-Marie can now look forward optimistically
Beautiful baby Emilio, a lovely testament to Smile Train’s work, with his mother Cheres, Sunil Tuli and Martin Moodie
Click here for more on The Moodie Davitt Smile Raising Charity Dinner. 
