Posts Tagged ‘Philanthropy’

UPDATE: Miracles from pennies: the Trailblazer story

posted: Jun 8, 2016 by: Peggy Goldman with: 1 comment

In early June, we brought to your attention the Trailblazer Foundation and their mission: building wells to bring poor villages in Cambodia clean, drinkable water. The Foundation is in dire need of a new truck so they can continue to deliver well building materials to outlying villages.

Their fundraising campaign to raise $7500 is coming to an end on Sunday, August 7^th. Trailblazer was actually able to sell their old truck for $1500 and put the money towards the campaign. They now only need $1830 to reach their goal. That’s only 92 people donating $20! Once Trailblazer reaches their goal, we will match a final $2500 so they can purchase a brand new truck and continue serving the poor of Cambodia. If you would like to help us and Trailblazer reach the goal, you can donate any amount to their campaign on IndieGoGo.

And if you haven’t already, read below to learn more about Trailblazer and their amazing work.

Meet Chris Coats, co-founder with her husband, Scott, of The Trailblazer Foundation. Friendly Planet has supported Trailblazer since 2007, when we first discovered we could pay to dig wells in the Siem Reap area and help provide clean, potable water for the villagers surrounding the World Heritage site of Angkor Wat—a site that we visit on our tours. We’re proud to support the Trailblazer Foundation, and through our own Friendly Planet Foundation, we look forward to working together to help improve the lives of the villagers of Siem Reap who so graciously welcome us into their communities. The Trailblazer Foundation is currently running a fundraising campaign to help buy an equipment delivery truck, which they desperately need to continue their mission. To help raise awareness of the campaign, Chris took some time to tell us a little bit about herself and her husband, and why they started Trailblazer. She said:

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Tags: Cambodia, Philanthropy, Trailblazer Foundation

How you can help build sustainable high schools worldwide

posted: Feb 13, 2014 by: Peggy Goldman with: No Comments

Alyssa Ramos (we call her Ali) is a member of our operations team. She is also one amazing woman, who has taken herself from homelessness to college graduation on the strength of her own guts and brains, both of which she has in abundance. Ali’s dream is to build sustainable schools in places around the world that offer little opportunity for kids. According to Ali’s dream, kids not only learn the basics of language, history, math, and science, but they also learn about sustainable living on every level, and then go on to work in new industries that will be critically needed in our modern, environmentally challenged world.

Ali and her team have created a short video as part of a competition for $30,000 in funding for her project. The public is asked to vote for the project they deem most worthwhile, and it is possible for everyone to vote once a day. The other contestants will be assembling their own team of supporters, but I want Ali to have the strength of our readers’ collective efforts, to make sure her video gets the votes needed to win.

I regularly watch a segment called “The Good Stuff” on CNN, where people like Ali are featured. In another year or so, once Ali’s school project is further advanced, she will probably be one of those amazing people featured. Today, I am asking everyone who believes in personal success stories to help us get the winning number of votes for Ali’s project. Here’s how to vote:

STEP 1) Click this link to register: http://www.phillyinfocus.com/channel/philly-dogooder-ii/

You have to create an account in order to vote! To create an account you need to submit a username and email.

STEP 2) Check your email in order to confirm your account. Note: the password is generated for you.

If you do not see the email, please check your Spam/Junk Folder.

STEP 3) Follow the link in your email. Sign in with your username and the password they generated for you.

STEP 4) VOTE FOR US HERE:

Our video is called – Schools for Sustainability

http://phillyinfocus.com/video/schools-for-sustainability/

Click VOTE!

It will take just a few minutes but will make a huge difference. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Tags: Philanthropy, Schools for Sustainability

What’s to come at Friendly Planet Travel in 2011

posted: Dec 29, 2010 by: Peggy Goldman with: No Comments

One of my favorite times of the year is the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It’s the perfect time to take a few days off to relax from the hustle and bustle of work and spend quality time with family and friends. It’s also a fitting time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished in the past year, and what we’re hoping to achieve in the next year.

2011 will be a momentous year for Friendly Planet Travel. It marks our 30th year in business! Back in 1981, I never thought about where I would end up in 30 years. Now, three decades later, I’m still here. I feel so lucky to have what to me feels like the best job in the world.

Throughout the year I’ll be sharing stories of why I started Friendly Planet Travel, and about our first group tour, which included my first group tour to Israel for the first gathering of Holocaust survivors in Israel. I’ll also be interviewing the travelers who have been booking tours with Friendly Planet Travel since the beginning, and much more.

In addition to celebrating our 30th anniversary throughout the year, we’ll be introducing new products and new ways of giving back to many of the countries that welcome our tours. Here’s a sneak peek at what to expect from Friendly Planet Travel in 2011.

New destinations. We surveyed Friendly Planet Travelers to discover the location they want to travel to most. The winner was Madagascar. And 2011 will be the year you can visit this fascinating destination with Friendly Planet Travel. We’re also introducing tours to Spain and Portugal, Burma (Myanmar), and Botswana.

New tours. As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, I will be leading a select group of tours to the new destinations being introduced in 2011. I’ll get to put my first-hand experience and research of these new locales to use when I extend invitations to these four tours later this year.

New booking engine. We will be unveiling a new air-hotel-car booking engine for travelers who want to create their own vacations without worrying about set departures or prepared itineraries. This consumer- and service-oriented portal is for savvy travelers who know what they want in services, including great pricing, but don’t want to give up service to get it.

New cruises. We will also be adding a robust, new series of cruise selections, featuring such highly regarded cruise brands as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), and Asamara. All will be available for individuals who want to travel independently, as well as set departure programs that include lots of additional services.

New nonprofit foundation. When I created Friendly Planet Travel, outreach and support for humanitarian causes was always part of my mission. We contribute directly to projects in many of the countries we visit, as well as right here in America. As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, I’m fulfilling my original mission with the creation of the Friendly Planet Travel Foundation. All the outreach and support that we conduct will move to our foundation, and we’ll be offering you plenty of new opportunities to get involved in helping as you vacation.

Continuous improvements to our digital ecosystem. You might have noticed some changes to the Friendly Planet Travel website in 2010. It’ll continue to evolve as we include more enhancements to the website and booking engine.

There’s plenty more to come in the new year, but I hope that in the meantime, these tidbits of news will tickle your curiosity and bring you back to the blog for more details. Come back and visit the blog soon to see what else we have in the works in 2011.

Tags: Africa, Botswana, Burma, Madagascar, Myanmar, News, Nonprofit, Philanthropy