FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — CruiseJungle Holdings, operator of several consumer travel web sites today announced the launch of a unique fund raising program that directly benefits veterans and their families. The program, Voyages for Veterans, is designed to raise funds for the well-respected Fisher House veteran’s organization. Fisher House is a 4 star, A+ rated charitable foundation that provides free housing for families of veterans that are undergoing treatment at VA hospitals throughout the country. The organization builds, furnishes and equips multi-bedroom houses located adjacent to VA medical facilities where the families can reside, at no charge, while their loved ones receive extended treatments there. Each Fisher House is designed to allow its guest to remain together in a family-like environment.
To date, the foundation, working through a private-public partnership, has constructed 38 houses across the country and since 1990 has saved veteran’s families an estimated $100 million in housing expenses.
The “Voyages for Veterans” concept was developed by CruiseJungle CEO, Joe Ewart, who served with the Army in Vietnam in the early 70’s. He stated, “I was surprised to learn that veteran’s families are pretty much on their own when they have to travel to a VA facility for any extended medical treatment. Fisher House residences help mitigate the expense that would be incurred if the family was forced to stay at a local hotel and purchase all their meals at restaurants. I was particularly impressed by the fact that 97% of all funds raised goes to directly benefit families of veterans. We formulated a plan to use cruising as a way to leverage funds for Fisher House.”
The first phase of the program offers a direct contribution from CruiseJungle to Fisher House for anyone that signs up for its free weekly newsletter, CruiseFlash at http://www.VoyagesForVeterans.com .
In addition, future plans call for developing a series of cruise departures that trigger a direct contribution from the cruise lines for identified bookings as a well as specific targeted cruise departures that raise funds on board.
Those wishing to make direct donations to Fisher House may do so by visiting their web site at http://www.FisherHouse.org .
