MIAMI, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a
variety of innovative fundraising activities, Carnival Cruise Lines
has raised more than $5 million for
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® for the hospital's many
lifesaving pediatric cancer research and treatment programs.
In addition to its Care to Play: Carnival for St. Jude
Kids shipboard fundraising campaign, the cruise line also
serves as the Official Celebration Partner for St. Jude, supporting
birthday parties, proms and other celebratory events at the
Memphis, Tennessee,
hospital.
Carnival Cruise Lines is on track to raise $8 million by 2017 through a range of engaging
activities, both on board and ashore. These include Groove
for St. Jude, a fun dance activity where guests make a $10 donation and receive a Care to
Play T-shirt and wristband, and the Beary Cuddly program where
kids can build their own stuffed animal with optional accessories
such as medical scrubs, all available for purchase with proceeds
benefiting St. Jude.
Planned for this year is a special bingo game with a portion of
each card benefiting St. Jude, as well as a water slide activity
with a $1 donation for each ride
during a specified time on board. And when guests purchase a
designated bakery item from the line's on-board shops or prior to
their cruise on carnival.com, Carnival donates a portion of each
item sold to St. Jude.
Carnival's Official Celebration Partner activities include
supplying entertainment at the annual St. Jude Teen Formal and
hosting an annual Day of Play with music, food, dancing, giveaways
and more. Earlier this year, in conjunction with National
Dance Day, Carnival provided kids and their parents an afternoon of
fun at the first-ever in-hospital Groove for St. Jude, modeled
after the popular shipboard activity. Birthdays are also
celebrated at the hospital with a special gift from Carnival
complementing traditional festivities.
"St. Jude has truly become part of the Carnival family," said
Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of
Carnival Cruise Lines. "Our employees, guests and travel agent
partners take tremendous pride in our role as a financial supporter
and provider of fun and memorable experiences for the patients of
this truly extraordinary hospital and research institution."
Carnival has also revamped the St. Jude portal within its web
site (www.carnival.com/stjude) which includes information on the
partnership and a chart reflecting progress toward the company's
$8-million fundraising goal.
About Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival, a unit of
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The
World's Most Popular Cruise Line®" with 24 ships operating three-
to 23-day voyages to The Bahamas,
Caribbean, Mexican Riviera,
Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda. Australia, New
Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Tahiti. The company's
25th ship, the 135,000-ton Carnival Vista, is scheduled to enter
service in 2016.
About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world
understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly
diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for the most
aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude
have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20
percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St.
Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood
cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the
breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means
doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save
thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St.
Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family
should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude
mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on
facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.
SOURCE Carnival Cruise Lines