2010 Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Arlington, VA - August 18, 2010
Charleston Area Charities Benefit from Cruise Industry Donations
The Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation (CICF) is pleased to announce recent grant awards to three Charleston area charities. CICF provided $22,500 in awards at a reception aboard the Carnival Fantasy. This special event was held in partnership with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the South Carolina State Ports Association, and Carnival Cruise Lines. Charitable grants were presented at the reception by Terry Dale, President & CEO of CLIA, Tom Dow, Vice President for Public Affairs, Carnival Corp. & plc and CICF Board Member, and Cynthia Colenda, Executive Director of CICF. Grant recipients were: the Lowcountry Food Bank, the South Carolina Maritime Foundation, and Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area. Special guests aboard the Fantasy included: Jim Newsome, President and CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority; Buck Limehouse, Secretary of the South Carolina Department of Transportation; Helen Hill, Executive Director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as other business and community leaders.
“CICF is pleased to continue our commitment to communities where we do business,” said James R. Border, CICF Chairman. “This commitment is demonstrated by the grants the industry provided to these Charleston charities.”
“These three deserving local charities are making the Charleston area a better place,” said Jim Newsome, President and CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority. “And these grants help demonstrate just how actively and productively the cruise industry engages the communities in which they operate. CLIA’s membership has proven to be excellent business partners with the port and our community.”
CICF presented a $7,500 grant to the Lowcountry Food Bank to provide healthy weekend snacks for Charleston area students through its Backpack Buddies program. “The Lowcountry Food Bank feels very fortunate to have partners like CICF in our corner to assist with meeting the need in our community,” said Lowcountry Food Bank Executive Director, D. Jermaine Husser. “Thanks to their support, 60 children will receive backpacks filled with nutritious food items through the Backpack Buddies program during the 2010/2011 school year.”
CICF also presented a $7,500 grant to the South Carolina Maritime Foundation for its youth leadership programs aboard the Spirit of South Carolina. Sarah Piwinski, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and Teddy Turner, Chairman of the Board of Directors were on hand to receive the grant on behalf of the Maritime Foundation. “It is through the support of foundations such as CICF that the SCMF is able to continue to serve the community through our educational programs. This grant will be utilized in our new afterschool program serving 50 students and their families,” said Ms. Piwinski.
Jane Riley, Executive Director of Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area accepted a $7,500 grant for the Student Support Program to ensure that students in Charleston and Berkeley Counties graduate from high school. “Communities In Schools is honored to receive this grant award, which allows us to continue our dropout prevention programs, serving more than 5,300 children. Working together, we can help them stay in school and achieve in life.”
In 2008, the cruise industry generated $78 million of expenditures in South Carolina. In addition, the industry created 1,580 jobs in South Carolina with wages totaling $55 million in income throughout the state’s economy.
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