January 27, 2007

Our Bear Cares on the Columbia and Snake Rivers

This year we worked with the Union Gospel Mission in the Tri-Cities to provide educational assistance for the migrant workers’ children. We thought they would need backpacks and other basic school supplies. In June, we delivered a check for $2,500 to the mission so they would have time to purchase supplies before school started in the fall.

I received a call from Meg Riley at the mission in early September. The local Costco had donated school supplies for the migrant workers’ children and they were requesting direction on what to do with the money. Meg wondered if we were interested in buying coats for the children who didn’t have them. Because of the cold weather, unless children have coats they are not permitted to go to school. We thought Meg’s idea was a good one.

By the end of November Meg had purchased 28 coats and delivered them to the Longfellow school, where the majority of migrant children go. You will see the message from the school nurse below. In addition, Meg told me some of these children have never had any new clothes in their lives and most of the coats came with mittens, scarves or gloves, so they were even more delighted!

Dear Cruise West – On behalf of the Longfellow School staff, I thank you for your generous donation! You can’t imagine the looks on children’s faces – and parents’ too- when warm coats are made available to these little ones. Your generosity has overwhelmed us! May you all have a peaceful holiday season - thank you all again! Susie Wells, School Nurse

After purchasing the coats there was still some money left over, so Meg used it to buy Christmas presents for the party they give at the mission. Every child who comes to the party gets a present and with our help, every child did and they were also able to purchase some educational tools for use by children at the mission.

What a good use of Our Bear Cares contributions – and thank you to all the Columbia & Snake Rivers guests who participated.

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Funds from onboard photo CD sales support Our Bear Cares Projects. Founded and managed by the employees of Cruise West, financially supported by the Company and by donations from our guests, the goal of the Our Bear Cares Program is to support local charities and organizations at every destination Cruise West visits. A team of employees at Cruise West works closely with each organization to ensure our support has a direct and positive impact . Groups are carefully selected and supported by the Our Bear Cares Committee. Support ranges from cash donations to clothing, school and medical supplies. Organizations we support are as diverse as a remote village in Costa Rica, an orphanage in Mexico, an educational program for children of migrant workers in the Pacific Northwest, whale research in Alaska and medical supplies for various islands in the South Pacific . The committee meets monthly and welcomes input from guests, employees and vendors. Contact us in writing at Our Bear Cares Committee, Cruise West, 2301 5th Avenue, Suite 401, Seattle, WA 98121

Posted by Gail on January 27, 2007 10:40 AM

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