With our support, PCYI hosted its first Peel Youth Leaders Conference on July 23, 2013, to build the capacity of young people in Peel to take on meaningful leadership roles in our community. Participants included PCYI’s Youth Advisory Council members, and other youth leaders, or aspiring leaders, in the region.

Collette is so honored to be a silver sponsor of the sixth annual Passports with Purpose (PwP) fundraiser which will run until December 9th on www.PassportswithPurpose.org. Hundreds of travel bloggers and donors around the world will raise $115,000 USD to construct three schools and fund three adult literacy programs in the Sikasso region of southern Mali, Africa with buildOn. This incredibly, worthwhile project truly ties into our mission to help children in need across the world.

How Passports with Purpose Works

The success of Passports with Purpose centers around the travel blogging community, who secure and write a description of a prize, along with details of the fundraiser, on their respective travel blogs. All the Passports with Purpose prize posts are linked to the Donate page. For each $10 tax deductible donation on the site, a person can enter to win a prize of their choice. Donations for multiple prizes and multiple $10 increments are acceptable. On December 16, 2013 a winner will be randomly selected and notified for each prize. Donations go to the 2013 beneficiary, buildOn. Now is the Time to Support Mali, the fifth poorest country in the world according to the UN’s Human Development Index, Mali also suffers from one of the globe’s lowest literacy rates at 31.1% and only 20.3% for females.

To date, buildOn has completed nearly 200 schools in the region, with more than 24,000 children attending a buildOn schools in Mali on an annual basis. Steadfast in their commitment to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy in Mali, buildOn has sustained the school construction program in the country amidst the current civil unrest north of the capital. As with all PwP projects, buildOn has partnered with rural villagers to contribute much to the construction and success of the schools.

It’s a great endeavor and we’re happy to lend a hand!

We are so thankful for the generosity of our employees and friends. Because of your donations we were able to send Plan International funding for relief efforts in the Philippines totaling $30,613. This is an amazing illustration of the good will of the Collette family and friends.

Thank you for all of the wonderful things you do, not just during the holiday season, but throughout the year. You all make the difference in the lives of many through good works and with big hearts.

Enjoy the holiday and have a wonderful time celebrating with your loved ones!

-The Collette Foundation Team

In a little over a week, we will be getting ready to sit down with family and loved ones for a Thanksgiving meal. There’s so much to be thankful for during the holiday season. When we think about the devastation that Typhoon Haiyan has brought over the Philippines, we can be thankful for the ability to do something to help – and to be part of an organization that is making an effort to help.

In two days, the Collette Foundation will send a check for $25,000 to our partner, Plan International, to support their massive aide and relief efforts. In addition to that check, we will provide a match for any donation received from our employees and friends. So far, the results have been great. The team is committed to giving back to the people in the Philippines something whose lives have been turned upside down.

For those still wishing to contribute: you can visit www.collettefoundation.org and click on DONATE on the far right. Or send a check to the Attn of: Donna Warner at 162 Middle Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860. Spread the word to friends, families and anyone who you think might want to be a part of this great effort at this thankful time of year.

A group of travelers from Collette recently returned from a trip to Australia where they enjoyed the chance to see the girls from Drum Atweme perform. This organization was formed to help the needs of the aboriginal at risk youth, particularly girls. The focus of the program is to create a positive influence and healthy atmosphere through the use of traditional music. The group consists of Aboriginal girls from the ages of 6-13, who must remain in school to be part of the program.

From Travel Weekly:

The Collette Foundation, the charitable arm of tour operator Collette Vacations, has won a World Travel Market Global Award in recognition of its global philanthropic work over the past 12 months.

Collette received the award this week at the World Travel Market event in London.

Collette was nominated for the award by Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly’s editor in chief.

An employee-run global initiative, the Collette Foundation connects staff, vendors and travelers with more than 20 projects in nearly 20 countries.

About 150 employee volunteers (more than 25% of Collette’s worldwide workforce of nearly 600) establish and manage projects.

In countries such as Kenya, South Africa, China and Cambodia, projects feature nourishment programs, support to orphanages and foster homes and the building of community centers and schools.

At the Collette Vacations headquarters, employees joined together for a Red Sox Dress Down Wednesday and Thursday as the ‘home team’ moved toward its well-deserved World Series victory at Fenway. The Dress Down cost $2 per employee ($1 for each day dressed down) – and all monies raised went to Pawtucket Soup Kitchen. It was a win/win situation for all this week. Go team!

On Saturday, October 19^th, a team of four represented the Collette Foundation at the 4^th annual Amazing Wishes Race! The team, which consisted of Chris Cahill, Sandy Pereira, Cassie Stetkiewicz, and Glady Michael, was one of over 20 teams that competed, with the proceeds going to the Children’s Wishes RI charity. This charity grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical illnesses between the ages of 2 and a half to 18. Children’s Wishes raised over $20,000 with this one event!

Our team ran around all over Rhode Island, putting together puzzles, hitting fly balls, leaping into giant foam block pits, racing around corn mazes, playing a game of Bananagrams, and finished off with a quick game of Cornhole (played while wearing a banana suit, of course!)

While we did not come in first, everyone had a great time and we look forward to next year, when we will hopefully have more teams to represent the Collette Foundation! In the meantime, we raised some good funds for a great cause, and the Collette Foundation matched our donation as well — making the experience even sweeter.

Congratulations to the PT Warriors Team from Collette in raising $12,000 to support the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Foundation. The 5k event took place in Providence last weekend, during National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Paula Twidale, the team’s founder and leader, reflects on this second-annual successful endeavor:

Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer “Flames of Hope” weekend is all about creating awareness. The PT Warriors 5K team was comprised of 50 Collette employees, family and friends.  The energy and enthusiasm of the employees was phenomenal and we raised $12,000!

As a survivor, the weekend was special for me since I carried a torch in the Waterfire, creating the “circle of life” on the river, as well as completed the 5K. This was an opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of life and celebrate success. It was emotional as well as inspirational.

“Flames of Hope” is an appropriate name for the weekend event as we encourage all battling breast cancer to continue the fight. The PT Warriors are “paying it forward” and are advocates for change in behavior and healthy living.  We are strong, we are proud and together we make a difference.

Click here for the full story.

What an epic Tourism Cares event! More than 275 volunteers from 21 states and 113 companies donated $160,000.00 of labor to enhance the museum’s authentic timber palisade, visitor center, and grounds, including the Wampanaog Homesite; Mayflower II, now a 54 year-old wind vessel; Burial Hill, recently listed in the Register of Historic Places; and the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Go team!