During the holiday season and throughout the year, our hearts go out to the less fortunate who need our help.  Just in case you’re looking for a way to give back and make a difference, we at Seasite and Landry & Kling would like to share some of our personal favorite charitable organizations. Please take a minute to look over the list – there just might be one that tugs at your heartstrings.

From the Landry & Kling and Seasite staff:
“For the past 4 years, we’ve supported a local charity – Miami Bridge – a safe haven for adolescents who otherwise might end up on the streets. In lieu of exchanging office gifts, our staff brightens the youngsters’ holiday by delivering Christmas Wish List gifts. Miami Bridge serves over 700 kids a year, and it’s our great pleasure to spend some time at the Bridge serving them their holiday lunch!”

ABOUT MIAMI BRIDGE

Every year, thousands of “at risk” adolescents in Miami-Dade county face the prospect of life on the streets. Many of them are children for whom the foster care system cannot find placement, children who run away from dysfunctional homes, and children released from juvenile detention. For more than 20 years, Miami Bridge has worked to keep these kids off the streets.

Miami Bridge is a not-for-profit organization that provides emergency shelter, food and, just as importantly, counseling for troubled youths and their families. Miami Bridge workds to rescue kids from lives of victimization and crime, and in so doing, helps our community ensure that these kids have he opportunity to become productive members of our society.
www.miamibridge.org

From Jo Kling, CEO – Seasite
“My favorite charity is NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) because it motivates kids to learn about turning an idea into a business, thus helping them see the value of staying in school and studying so they can apply what they learn in a meaningful way to create their own future.”

ABOUT NFTE

Through entrepreneurship education, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), helps young people from low-income communities build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity. Since 1987, NFTE has reached more than 280,000 young people, and currently has programs in 21 states and 12 countries. NFTE has more than 1,500 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers, and is continually improving its innovative entrepreneurship curriculum. The organization’s vision is that every young persona will find a pathway to prosperity. Jo Kling currently serves on the Advisory Board of the South Florida NFTE office.
www.NFTE

From Joyce Landry, CEO – L&K
“As animal lover who has rescued and adopted many pets over the years, I fully support the American Humane Society for the amazing work they do to protect animals and raise awareness of animal abuse.”

ABOUT AMERICAN HUMANE SOCIETY

Founded in 1877, the American Humane Association is the only national organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Through a network of child and animal protection agencies and individuals, American Humane provides national leadership in developing policies, legislation, curricula and training programs — and taking actions — to protect children and animals from cruelty, abuse, neglect and exploitation. American Humane also raises awareness about The Link® between animal abuse and other forms of violence, as well as the benefits derived from the human-animal bond.
www.americanhumane

And also from Joyce:
“Another wonderful charity I have to mention is the Deborah L. Natansohn Foundation.  I’m a founding board member and we give so many wonderful scholarships to women in Debbie’s name – and she was the first female President of a cruise line.”

ABOUT DEBORAH L. NATANSOHN FOUNDATION

The Deborah L. Natahsohn Foundation honors the memory of Deborah L. Natansohn by promoting efforts to further the advancement in society and business through mentoring programs, educational programs, scholarships and community outreach opportunities. When possible, the Foundation’s efforts will promote the careers for women in travel and journalism.
www.dlnfoundation

From Maureen McKeon, Seasite Web Copy Editor
“For many years, I sponsored a little girl from Guatemala through Children International. It was so heartwarming to receive her letters and read reports on her progress. A few years ago, I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Guatemala and finally meet Irma and her family – it’s an experience I will never forget!”

ABOUT CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

As a nonprofit humanitarian organization, Children International strives to help children around the world overcome the burdens of poverty to become healthy, educated, self-sustaining and contributing members of society. This goal is achieved primarily through child sponsorship, which unites children in need with individual sponsors who wish to address the children’s immediate and basic needs, and gives them the tools and opportunities necessary for success.
www.childreninternational

From Joey Sciarrotta, Landry & Kling Coordinator, Group Events
“A charity that I have been contributing to since high school is: Broadway Cares, Equity Fights Aids. You could also mention World Aids Day which is December first…”
http://www.worldaidsday.org/

ABOUT BC/EFA

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.  By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised over $175 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
http://www.broadwaycares.org/Page.aspx?pid=195

From Stephanie Deaton, Landry & Kling Sr. Account Manager
“I’m a huge fan of Best Friends Animal Society …the extremes they go through to save and rehabilitate animals is amazing. My sister and I hope to take a trip out to Best Friends Sanctuary next year and volunteer for a week.”

ABOUT BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY

Best Friends Animal Society is guided by a simple philosophy: kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us. In the late 1980s, when Best Friends was in its early days, roughly 17 million dogs and cats were being killed in shelters every year. Best Friends’ No More Homeless Pets campaign created a new vision: A grassroots effort to place dogs and cats who were considered “unadoptable” into good homes, and to reduce the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs.  Since then, the number of dogs and cats being destroyed in shelters has fallen to approximately 5 million a year. As the flagship of a grassroots network of people and organizations that care about animals, Best Friends continues to lead the way towards bringing the number down to zero.
http://www.bestfriends.org/

From Cynthia Shobe, Seasite Cruise Advisor
“His House is close to my heart. This is a home for children that have been removed from their parents or abandoned. I’ve painted the outside of the houses, planted plants & trees, and have spent time at one of the homes helping clean while my two sons played with the children outside. I’ve also collected clothes and helped sort them for the warehouse.”

ABOUT HIS HOUSE CHILDREN’S HOME

His House Children’s Home is a faith-based non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the joy in the lives of children and families. The agency provides residential care for abused, neglected and drug exposed children in a campus home-like setting. Their goal is to restore the emotional and physical well being of children through an array of services in a loving and nurturing environment. His House Children’s Home is a healing place giving wounded children a warm, loving home and renewed hope for a brighter future.
hhch.org

From Brad Nickel, VP Marketing & Product Development
“Aura House is a small grass-roots organization that was started by a friend. It’s all about people helping themselves. You can pick a project to support and they post weekly updates on their website, so it’s very personal and you can see that your contribution is really making a difference”

ABOUT AURA’S HOUSE

Aura’s House is a grassroots online project that raises funds for housing, health, income generation, and education projects for needy children in developing countries. It was originally created to raise $4500 to build a safe, sturdy brick home for Aura Hernandez and her family in Guatemala. Since this goal was met in November of 2004, they decided to launch other small projects that bring big changes to the lives of families in developing countries. Aura’s House has been working in conjunction with the top rated US charitable organization, Children International since February of 2003. 100% of proceeds go to their projects. All persons working at Aura’s House do so on a strictly volunteer basis only.
http://aurashouse

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