MSC Cruises' MSC Orchestra hosted Jam Cruise, a music-theme voyage, in January, setting the stage for participants to volunteer in Belize City and Costa Maya, Mexico. Jam Cruise's Leaving a Positive Legacy program offers passengers a hands-on opportunity to help communities outside their own. Jam Cruise worked with seven schools and an orphanage in Belize and Costa Maya to create a communal wish list of necessities and invited passengers to donate items. Passenger donations filled an entire room on the ship with school supplies, clothing, shoes, sports equipment and musical instruments -- the equivalent of four pallets of donations was collected in all. Nine laptop computers were also donated by Jam Cruise passengers and were refurbished, updated with wireless network cards, and provided to the schools. In addition to the passenger donations, Cloud 9 Adventures donated 10 solar ovens and Conscious Alliance donated a pallet of organic fruit leather.
Jam Cruise 7 also worked with Padres de Familia kinder in Km 55, a school in Costa Maya devastated by Hurricane Dean, to make repairs on the facility. Following the hurricane, all that remained was a cinderblock structure with incomplete plywood walls and a tarpaper roof. Cloud 9 Adventures sent $1,420 one month before visiting Costa Maya for the purchase of construction materials. While on the ship, passengers who became aware of the repair project matched that donation with an additional $1,440.
It is fitting that the "Leaving a Positive Legacy" program was associated with a cruise on MSC Orchestra, which has received many national and international awards and certificates acknowledging the measures it has taken to protect the environment. The line's newbuilds utilize the most modern technology to safeguard the environment, including a grey and black water treatment plant, energy saving across all cabins and public spaces, and non-toxic paints specially formulated for ship hulls. To reduce Jam Cruise's impact on the environment, its greening program has consistently achieved "carbon neutral" status for the past four years.
This year, through a partnership with the non-profit organization Trees, Water & People, Cloud 9 Adventures offset 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from the five-day voyage. In addition, approximately 15 percent of passengers opted in to purchase offsets for their personal travel. According to Allison Shaw, assistant international director of Trees, Water & People, Jam Cruise is their single biggest carbon offset donor. "The support we've received from Jam Cruise and passengers will allow us to plant almost 8,700 trees and build 38 fuel-efficient woodstoves in Central America, offsetting a total of 1,155 metric tons of carbon dioxide," she said. "This amazing feat shows that being environmentally responsible and having fun are not at all mutually exclusive. I hope that other festivals will follow Jam Cruise's environmental leadership." For more information, visit www.MSCCruisesUSA.com.
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