WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- B'nai Brith of Canada presented the 2006 Award of Merit to Surjit Babra and Walter Arbib, founders of the SkyLink Group of Companies. The company's divisions, SkyLink Aviation and SkyLink Travel, with global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and SkyLinkUS, (www.SkyLinkus.com) headquartered in New York City providing air ticketing services only for travel professionals on major air carriers worldwide, have grown under the same caring, philanthropic efforts of its Chairman, Babra, a Sikh born in Punjab and its President, Arbib, a Tunisian-born Jew. These sensitive leaders built the SkyLink Group and an internal support system which responds to the special needs of peoples globally and has provided tangible support to help victims in dire circumstances on five continents.
Special presentations were also made for Babra and Arbib's philanthropies by Italy's Consul General, Emanuele Punzo and Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Her Excellency Shyamala Cowsik.
Examples supporting the award include:
2004: Arbib brought together the Jewish and Italian communities of Toronto to honor Giogio Perlasca, an Italian Holocaust hero who saved more than 5,000 Hungarian Jews. At the center of the event, which raised $350,000 for Jewish and Italian charities, was the Italian film, "Perlasca, An Italian Hero."
2004: The Sikh community wanted to bring 149 new scrolls from the Golden Temple in Amritsar to Toronto to replace tattered Holy Scriptures. This delicate, sacred mission was accomplished by Babra through SkyLink Aviation, by airlifting each holy book, occupying its own linen-covered seat in an airplane. Babra arranged for this most holy of airlifts and accompanied the holy books aboard the flight. In so doing, Babra realized his seemingly impossible dream of serving his faith at the highest level.
2005: SkyLink transported to its Ethiopian homeland the ancient, 30-meter tall obelisk which Mussolini's troops took to Rome in 1936. Arbib encouraged governments in possession of stolen works of art to follow Italy's lead in returning the works to their rightful homelands.
Prior SkyLink humanitarian missions include airlifting 100 UN workers and their families out of danger, delivering medication to victims of natural disasters, including the Tsunami, and countless the philanthropic projects.
Nationally syndicated radio show travel expert Stephanie Abrams explains, "I have known Walter and Surjit through SkyLinkUS, the air consolidator serving travel agents only. Their warmth, sincerity, and the caring connection that they feel for the peoples of the world transcend their business goals. Their success in business is the result of their application of fundamentally understanding the needs of people and their willingness to go beyond expectations to rise to whatever the occasion demands. They are remarkable men leading a remarkable company. They do what comes naturally, doing what is right. This recognition is well deserved! Anyone who has ever done business with their company quickly learns that their caring and strong ethical code permeates the fiber of SkyLink. It starts at the top!"
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