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Our Bear Cares Program


Since 1946, Cruise West has conducted up-close encounters with Native and local cultures in the places we travel. We have always been conscientious of the impact we can and do make on the places and people we visit. Together, with the caring involvement of our guests, we are committed to making a positive impact on the health and well-being of the environment and local cultures we encounter. We place resources and actions behind our goals to teach and assure responsible travel practices that protect the natural state of the environment, improve the well-being of the local people, provide financial and material resources to preserve local cultures and help provide for their medical and educational needs. We started out with one charitable effort but our goal is to begin supporting a local effort in every region that we travel.
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La Paz Children's Home
Our involvement with the La Paz Children's Home began back in 1999, Cruise West’s first year of operation in Mexico. That year, Chairman & Managing Director, Dick West, and his family brought a suitcase full of toys, and hair accessories on their Sea of Cortés trip. They visited the orphanage in La Paz where they were struck by the very stark conditions and the fact that although the children were clean and fed, there were very limited supplies and furnishings. All the children seemed happy and adjusted, but they were living without some very basic things.
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Northwest Regional Education Service District Migrant Children’s Education
The Northwest Regional Education Service District is a leader in providing special education, instructional services, and technology support to the 20 school districts in the Northwest corner of Oregon. Education Service Districts originated in 1946 when Oregon passed laws establishing this system as part of their support of public schools.
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Petersburg Marine Mammal Center

Petersburg, Alaska also known as “Little Norway,” is a favorite port of our guests. Cruisers can only access Petersburg by small ships, and we adore the small town welcome they bestow. That’s why when the “Our Bear Cares” team went looking for ways to give back to the areas we travel we were pleased to support the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC).
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Tikopia

Our special association with the island of Tikopia (TIK-OH-PEE-AH) began with an accidental encounter last year. We arrived in Tikopia in February of 2006, but were unable to land our zodiacs at the spot originally planned. We moved to a different side of the island and went ashore to meet the chief and ask permission to visit. Through our tour agent, I was told that the island’s priest, Father Luke Faka, was hoping to find me, to ask if I would send an email on his behalf. Father Luke and I connected, and I took his handwritten letter back to the ship, scanned it, typed it, and sent both copies out. The letter was being sent to Dr. David Martin, a British man living in New Zealand. Dr. Martin, his wife, and several colleagues of theirs had formed a foundation to assist the island with a project to rebuild their dam. During Category 5 Cyclone Zoe, in December of 2002, the dam separating the island’s fresh water lake from the sea had been breached. The lake was no longer a viable source of fresh water for the people, but the eroding sand between the sea and the lake also threatened their homes. They named their foundation the “Save Tikopia Fund.”
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