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Tourism Cares announces six worldwide grant recipients

Wednesday 12, January 2011

 

Tourism Cares announces six worldwide grant recipients

 

Tourism Cares, the non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the travel experience for future generations, awarded a second group of grants in 2010 totaling USD 45,000, to six non-profit organizations as part of its Worldwide Grant Program.

 

With most recipients receiving dollar-for-dollar matching funds from other organizations, a total of $81,000 will be presented to the organizations for projects in the areas of historic preservation, sustainable tourism and conservation education, at cultural and heritage sites.

 

A first group of grants totaling $45,000 was awarded earlier in 2010.  Tourism Cares is pleased to announce the following second group of 2010 Worldwide Grant recipients:

 

  • Conservation Volunteers International Program, Santa Barbara, CA for Chile
  • Falmouth Heritage Renewal, Inc., The Plains, Virginia for Jamaica
  • Slovak Ornithological Society (SOS) BirdLife Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • The Gloucester Adventure, Inc., Gloucester, MA
  • Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA
  • Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

 

Tourism Cares is proud to expand the worldwide reach of its projects, with three of the six grantees representing international projects.

 

“Tourism Cares has long been an advocate of conservation and preservation as a means to engage in responsible tourism,” said Bruce Beckham, Executive Director of Tourism Cares. “The worthy recipients of the Tourism Cares Worldwide Grants have demonstrated goals that are in line with Tourism Cares and we’re excited that our mission continues to be reached overseas.” 

 

Supporting non-profits around the world with grant funding is vital to the mission of Tourism Cares. To date, Tourism Cares has awarded funding to 149 organizations, including a dozen national parks in 42 states and 29 countries. These grants, when combined with matching funds, total more than $2 million.

 

Following are brief descriptions of the projects being supported by the Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant Program.

 

The Conservation Volunteers International Program (Conservation VIP) is a U.S.-based non-profit dedicated to conservation and preservation of some of the world’s greatest landscapes and cultural sites. Staffed entirely by volunteers, this organization provides opportunities for ordinary citizens to do extraordinary volunteer service. The project site, the Torres del Paine National Park, located in the Patagonia region of Chile, has exceptional ecological significance and it was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978. Roughly 80% of the 120,000 annual visitors to the park are international. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will aid in the construction of a 140-foot pedestrian suspension bridge across a deep gorge in the park to improve public safety. The project has the support of the National Tourist Board of Chile and the Chilean equivalent of the U.S. National Park Service. 

 

The mission of Falmouth Heritage Renewal, Inc. is to preserve the Falmouth Historic District in Jamaica, the largest intact collection of Georgian architecture in the Caribbean. The non-profit organization seeks to train local youth in building conservation and restoration to involve them in the preservation of their nation’s rich architectural and cultural heritage. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will assist this brick-and-mortar project to help restore and preserve St. Peter’s Anglican Church, built in 1796, an outstanding example of British Colonial architecture.  Visitation to this site will increase exponentially, as it is within walking distance of the cruise pier and terminal area opening soon as part of the Falmouth Cruise Port project, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and the Port Authority of Jamaica.

 

The mission of the Slovak Ornithological Society (SOS) BirdLife Slovakia includes research and environmental education for tourists and locals, including schoolchildren, to protect nature, especially wild birds and their habitats. Senne Wetlands, the project site, is a natural heritage site of exceptional significance on the national, regional and international level as it hosts several bird species threatened globally. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will help accomplish three goals: build a wooden observation tower to enhance the existing educational trail, improve the current information center, and update an interpretive brochure for visitors to promote the site in nearby visitor centers. The project has the support of the Regional Department of Culture and Tourism. 

 

The Gloucester Adventure, Inc., steward of the 122-foot schooner Adventure, is an organization whose mission is to preserve and educate about maritime culture and heritage. The schooner, the last of the Gloucester fishing banks schooners, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 and is a destination site on the Essex National Heritage Area’s Maritime Trail. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will help this community-based project to restore the 1926 schooner, preserving the history of the fishing heritage of Gloucester, America’s oldest seaport. Once returned to active sailing, the schooner will serve as a floating museum and hands-on classroom for the historic and environmental education of visitors.

 

The mission of the Hancock Shaker Village, a significant regional cultural heritage site, is to bring the Shaker story to life and preserve it for future generations. The community was established in 1790, and the property was transformed into an educational living history museum. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will help support the water damage mitigation work and restoration of the Shaker Trustees’ Office and Store, built in 1813. The project has matching funds from both the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Park Service. The project is connected to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hancock Shaker Village’s new Master’s Degree Program in Historic Preservation. The site receives 70,000 visitors annually, half of whom are children and families.  

 

The Norman Rockwell Museum, the leading presenter and steward of Norman Rockwell (1895-1978) and American illustration art, received the National Humanities Medal in 2008; the only museum ever to receive this honor. The organization’s mission is to promote art appreciation, education and engagement in visual communication through the art of Norman Rockwell and other outstanding illustrators. This significant regional cultural site attracts 130,000 visitors annually. The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will help restore seven large original drawings by Norman Rockwell, which have been damaged, so that the public will be able to view them. 

 

Tourism Cares is a non-profit public charity whose mission is to preserve the travel experience for future generations. It accomplishes this by mobilizing the travel and tourism industry and travelers to give back to society through grants to natural, cultural and historical sites throughout the world; through academic and professional development scholarships for students of hospitality, travel and tourism; and through the organization of volunteer efforts to clean up and restore tourism-related sites in need of care and rejuvenation. For more information about Tourism Cares, please visit www.TourismCares.org

 

 

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