Tread the Pledge Fund 2021
Purpose
Our second annual Tread the Pledge Fund continues to recognize and support the involvement of our TTC Travel Director & Trip Manager family in community projects worldwide.
Objective
The Travel Corporation (TTC)’s family of Travel Directors and Trip Managers are the passionate people who bring TTC’s trips to life and are integral to our mission to MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®. Created in 2019, the purpose of the Tread the Pledge Fund is to recognize and support their involvement in community volunteer efforts and give back projects worldwide. This year’s awards are particularly meaningful as local organizations need funding more than ever as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tread the Pledge Fund awards four projects that have been nominated by our Travel Directors, Trip Managers and Travelling Concierges representing Contiki, Trafalgar, Costsaver, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, with new projects nominated and rewarded annually.
The projects being awarded for the Tread the Pledge Fund 2021 are:
Window of Opportunity – Breaking the cycle of poverty in India
Barefeet Theatre – Supporting and empowering vulnerable youth in Zambia
Good Neighbors – Feeding communities in need in Rhode Island, USA
Bamboo School Cambodia – Providing education and mentorship to students in Cambodia
Learn more about our second annual grant recipients below.
Impact
Nominated by: Rik Sprengers of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
Window of Opportunity’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty in Indian communities while preserving local heritage, by supporting the work of local artisans. Through the facilitation of jewelry sales, the organization collaborates with the most vulnerable communities and those affected by COVID-19, helping local artisans become self-sufficient.
Window of Opportunity aims to address the imminent crisis which involves job loss, the lack of adequate healthcare and food scarcity, by providing food and ultimately creating jobs and building self-sufficient businesses.
Nominated by: Maeve Henry of Trafalgar & Costsaver
Barefeet Theatre’s mission is to enhance the lives of at-risk children and youth in Zambia through creative opportunities to learn, express themselves and reach their full potential. The organization has been working with vulnerable children for more than 12 years and is comprised of a group of performing artists who use their vast experience, skills and talents to educate, inspire and transform the lives of the children they work with.
Barefeet Theatre addresses issues such as homelessness, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and abuse through outreach, workshop interventions and community awareness, a children’s council of advocates, their annual arts festival, and their performance company.
Nominated by: Robin O’Malley of Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold
Good Neighbors is a local food pantry operating out of a space provided by a local church. When the food pantry was forced to stop operation of their indoor pantry in early 2020 due to COVID-19, the Executive Director Ric Wild quickly formulated an alternate plan: a drive-through pantry that would allow families in need to continue receiving food, as well as personal hygiene items. The once-a-month program was expanded during 2020 to allow families a food pick-up twice a month, and also included special Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Meal pick-up.
In addition to the food pantry, Good Neighbors provides hot meals to those in need. When the in-person meals had to be stopped, the organization shifted to operate a meal delivery service allowing for the hot meals to be delivered by volunteers directly to the participants’ homes. Without Good Neighbors, Ric, and the volunteers, many families in my town would find themselves unable to feed their families.
Nominated by: Rhiannon Bryant of Contiki
Through education and dedicated mentorship, the Bamboo School is empowering children in Kompang Chhnang, Cambodia to grow up with the knowledge and opportunities nto strive to make positive change in the world. The school was founded by Reaksmey Khun, also Head Teacher, in May 2018.
Kompong Chhnang is a remote farming community where most families work for little or no money and are unable to fund their children’s education. The school provides schooling to these families at no cost.
What started with a small class of 20-30 students has now become full-day classes for more than 180 students, as word spread throughout the community.
Transformative Travel
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