MIAMI (April 20, 2021) – Norwegian Cruise Line, the innovator in global cruise travel with a 54-year history of breaking boundaries, today announced its global donation efforts in providing more than $2 million in humanitarian relief to support various community organizations worldwide.
Over the course of 2020, NCL has continued to work with domestic and international organizations in the destinations it visits to provide much needed aid including water and non-perishable and canned goods. The Company’s latest donation efforts, carried out during April’s current Global Volunteer Month delivered 10 pallets of responsibly packaged, plant-based cartons of JUST Water to benefit the Southeast Alaska Food Bank.
“At Norwegian Cruise Line, people are at the heart of everything we do, from our guests and travel partners to our nearly 30,000 shoreside and onboard team members worldwide,” said Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line. “Although we did not sail for the majority of last year, we remained committed to the people that sail aboard and operate our ships as well as the people in the wonderful destinations we visit. In addition to managing through the global pandemic, many of them were affected by natural disasters and food insecurity, and I’m proud that our organization was able to rally and provide much needed support to directly make a difference.”
Throughout 2020 and into 2021, NCL participated in numerous humanitarian efforts worldwide. The Brand donated:
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- $250,000 Australian dollars with the support of its parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund to support emergency relief efforts for communities affected by the unprecedented bushfires in the region
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- more than a dozen pallets of dry and frozen foods to the Dutch food bankVoedselbanken Nederland and the Italian nonprofit Pane Quotidiano in Milan, Italy
- five pallets of JUST Water cartons and more than 6,350 cases of yogurt to the Urban Renewal Commission in Freeport, Bahamas
- 790 kosher meals to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
- 150,000 JUST Water cartons to Feeding South Florida, City Harvest New York and Food Bank for New York City
- nearly $275,000 in much needed relief supply to support community organizations in the Archipelago of San Andrés region in Colombia that were devastated by Category 5 Hurricane Iota. The donations included 32,000 carton bottles of JUST Water and nearly 262,000 pounds (119,000 kilograms) in non-perishable and canned goods to benefit the Foundation Pro Archipelago and Foundation for the Islands of Old Providence and Santa Catalina, Inc. (“FIOPSC”)
- 1,000 bottles of JUST Water to help frontline National Health Service (NHS) staff in the UK at University Hospital Southampton through Southampton Hospitals Charity in partnership with JUST Goods, Inc.
- over $225,000 in dry goods and foods to benefit Belizean families and other southern communities in the Stann Creek District of Belize City. The donation helped local citizens economically impacted by the effects of the global pandemic to the local tourism and cruise industry. Belize is the home of the Company’s private resort destination Harvest Caye
- 16 truckloads of JUST Water to benefit 17 Feeding America member food banks and other nonprofit organizations in the U.S. located in areas ravaged by severe winter storms. The donation was a joint effort among NCL, JUST® Goods, Inc.and The Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation (WJSFF)
By the end of 2021, Norwegian Cruise Line will have donated more than $1.2 million in nonperishable food and water to Feeding America’s local Miami food bank Feeding South Florida.
“JUST was honored to work with Norwegian Cruise Line on multiple occasions in recent months to distribute water to those who need it,” said Kara Rubin, vice president of brand & product strategy at JUST Goods, Inc. “Both JUST and NCL are committed to our communities and to sustainability. We’re proud to be able to work together to continue that support, especially during such a challenging period.”
“We are grateful for community partners like Norwegian Cruise Line, which provided over 800,000 pounds (362,874 kilograms) of healthy and nutritious food to individuals and families in South Florida,” said Sari Vatske, executive vice president of Feeding South Florida. “Currently, one in six South Floridians don’t know where they will get their next meal. Donations like this help Feeding South Florida meet the increased demand for access to nutritious foods as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
To provide audiences a better understanding of the people behind the brand’s philanthropic efforts and offer an intimate look into how NCL collaborates with the many community partners it supports, the Company leveraged its “EMBARK with NCL” platform to create the “EMBARK Stories: Feeding South Florida.” The approximate three-minute video showcases how the company has helped Feeding South Florida during the pandemic. Watch the story at www.ncl.com/embark.In addition to the Brand’s global donation efforts, and in the spirit of giving back during Global Volunteer Month and all year long, as part of the Company’s ongoing commitment to family and community, all fulltime NCLH U.S. shoreside employees are offered a Paid Volunteer Day where team members are given the opportunity to take eight hours of paid time off per calendar year to participate as volunteers in nonprofit programs in their local community. Also, as part of the Company’s Workplace Giving Program, NCLH is proud to support four organizations by offering employees the opportunity to make automatic recurring or one-time payments through payroll deductions. The Company will match each team member’s contribution up to $1,000 per year. The four nonprofit organizations include All Hands and Hearts, Kids in Distress, American Cancer Society and Virlanie.
For more information about how you can support efforts benefiting local Feeding America member food banks, please visit www.FeedingAmerica.org.
For more information about Norwegian Cruise Line ships and their itineraries, or to book a cruise, please contact a travel professional, call 888-NCL-CRUISE (625-2784) or visit www.ncl.com.