For National Volunteer Week, Carnival Cruise Lines and its employees participated in a wide range of community service initiatives, from collecting food and clothing for the homeless to assembling care packages for U.S. armed services personnel.  

Other efforts included a pet food drive benefiting Miami Pet Rescue and collecting toys, games and other items for children with cancer.

 The National Volunteer Week activities were coordinated through Carnival’s volunteer service group, the Friends Uniting Neighbors (F.U.N.) Team, which works with a variety of social service and charitable organizations throughout South Florida.

In conjunction with the West Coast debut the new 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor, Carnival Cruise Lines and the Los Angeles Food Bank teamed up on a food collection drive prior to a special two-day familiarization cruise for travel agents from the Port of Los Angeles. 

Travel agents embarking on the special one-time mini-cruise from were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items which were placed in collection boxes located at the pier in San Pedro. 

With hundreds of travel agents participating, more than 1,500 pounds of food, along with $295 in cash donations, were collected and distributed to various homeless shelters throughout Southern California.  It is estimated that 1,000 meals will be provided as a result of these donations.

Pictured here during the collection drive are (from left):  Carnival’s Business Development Manager for San Francisco/East Bay Area Bari Block, Business Development Director for Los Angeles-Riverside/San Bernardino Jackie Casas; and Vice President of Sales – Western Region Vicki Tomasino.

The 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor launched year-round seven-day service from Long Beach, Calif., April 5, becoming the newest and largest Carnival ship ever based on the West Coast.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ wide-ranging charitable endeavors are highlighted in a new Web portal at www.carnival.com/carnivalfoundation.

The site provides a comprehensive overview of many philanthropic efforts that are supported through the Carnival Foundation, which oversees millions in annual financial contributions and in-kind donations by the company and its employees.

While Carnival’s support extends to a wide variety of social service, educational and arts-related agencies and organizations, the company primarily focuses its efforts in South Florida, where its headquarters are located, and in its homeport communities throughout the U.S.  

The site also includes information and images of the F.U.N. (Friends Uniting Neighbors) Team – a group of employees who volunteer their time participating in a variety of hands-on service projects in South Florida — as well as the efforts of shipboard personnel who support organizations throughout the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico.

A listing of many of the charities supported by Carnival, along with application guidelines for organizations seeking the company’s assistance, is included, as well.  Also featured is a profile highlighting a different charity each month.  The current “Partner of the Month” is Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has teamed up with Carnival on an innovative workplace-mentoring program for Miami-Dade high school students.

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For the second year in a row, more than 50 members of Carnival’s management team are serving as mentors to Miami-Dade high school students as part of an innovative workplace mentoring program sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The students shadow the Carnival employees as they conduct their day-to-day business, earning valuable experience along the way.  The day typically begins with a presentation from a guest speaker – most recently Michael McCullough of the Miami HEAT who provided some helpful tips on “dressing for success.” The program runs through the end of the school year in June.

         

          Carnival’s FUN Team, the line’s employee-based volunteer service group, has been keeping busy the last couple of weeks participating in a number of community projects, including collecting clothes and food for residents of Grand Turk who were affected by Hurricane Ike as well as a coastal beach clean-up in Miami.

            Based on extensive hurricane damage to the island of Grand Turk – which is home to Carnival Corporation & plc’s Grand Turk Cruise Center -  the FUN Team started a collection for those in need, with donations coming from Carnival’s Miami, Miramar and Colorado Springs offices.

            The FUN Team has been collecting numerous boxes of supplies, including water, food and clothes which are being routinely flown to the island. Fundraising activities, including a t-shirt sale and lunchtime barbecue at the cruise line’s Miami offices, along with a joint fundraising drive in partnership with the United Way of Miami-Dade, are also generating much-needed support for the island.

            The FUN Team also recently participated in a local community beautification project which involved a major beach clean up on Miami Beach. The team cleared the beach of broken bottles, cans, trash and other debris, filling dozens of trash bags and restoring a pristine appearance to this beautiful stretch of the Florida coastline.

This weekend, members of Carnival Cruise Lines’ employee service group, the “Fun Team,” volunteered their time at Camillus House, a homeless assistance center in downtown Miami. While at the facility, the group staffed the food-service areas and participated in various clean-up efforts.

The visit was part of the group’s bi-monthly community service initiatives which include on-site volunteer projects at various charitable and social service agencies throughout South Florida.

Coincidentally, the “Fun Team” was at Camillus House the day before a speaking engagement by Bob Dickinson, a Carnival Corp. & plc board member and chairman of Camillus House’s board of directors, who addressed graduates of the Institute for Social and Personal Adjustment, a transitional program for the center’s residents.