Celebrating with Concern

CEO of Aer Lingus Christoph Mueller was honored by the international humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide U.S. in early December. Mueller was
recognized at Concern’s annual Seeds of Hope dinner for bridging the gulf between business acumen and charitable efforts since assuming Aer Lingus’s top position in 2009.
At the event, Dr. Joseph Cahalan, CEO of Concern, said that Mueller was “a driver of social change through
charitable partnerships and programs that make a lasting impact on people… whose lives have been devastated by natural disaster or whose potential has been compromised because of extreme poverty.” Notably, Aer Lingus leads an in-flight fund-raising campaign on behalf of UNICEF that has raised $16 million to date. More recently, the company provided its planes to deliver emergency relief supplies to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.
“I accept the award on behalf of all Aer Lingus employees, past and present, who have shown their generosity of spirit, throughout the years, to those less fortunate than them,” Mueller said in his acceptance speech at the Waldorf Astoria. The dinner raised more than $1.8 million for Concern.
Tom Moran, Chairman & CEO of Mutual of America and Chairman of Concern Worldwide U.S., remembered the late Aengus Finucane, the Irish priest who founded Concern. He spoke of Finucane’s influence on his life, of the many trips that he himself has made with Concern to some of the most troubled spots in the world, and the organization’s ability to change lives and create a better future for impoverished children and their families.
Earlier in the month, Concern also hosted their Winter Ball at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, which raised $135,000 for Concern’s programs in 27 countries around the globe, the largest amount brought in at the event since the inaugural Ball 13 years ago.