Today, Cruise Holidays, North America’s oldest and largest cruise-specialty retail franchise, presented its “Community Service Award” to Carrie and Ben Bajak of Cruise Holidays of Mission Viejo, CA. The Bajaks were honored for the second consecutive year – this time for their work on “Project Holiday Stocking” – and received their award during the 2008 Cruise Holidays Annual Convention being held aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Pearl.
Cruise Holidays of Mission Viejo served as the official drop-off location in Orange County for holiday stocking donations headed to U.S. troops in the Middle East. In addition to being the OC drop-off site and creating a large window display drawing awareness and attention to the project, the Bajaks worked with local media and other charitable organizations that adopted this program as a service project. In the five year history of “Project Holiday Stocking,” over 20,000 stockings have been delivered to U.S. men and women serving in the military in the Middle East.
“Carrie and Ben took this project to heart. For example, during Thanksgiving weekend, when the store was closed, Carrie received a call from a young girl wishing to drop off her stocking in person. Carrie made a special trip to open the store. The young girl came in and – in addition to dropping off her donation – was so excited she made sure to get her picture taken with her mom, dad, brother and grandparents amidst the 200 priority boxes stacked by the window,” said Peter D. Thomson, Vice President and COO of Cruise Holidays. “Working with the community and local charities on endeavors such as ‘Project Holiday Stocking’ helps Cruise Holidays of Mission Viejo exceed their mission to be of service at all levels.”
Cruise Holidays of Mission Viejo is located at 27760 Santa Margarita Parkway. It is part of the Cruise Holidays network which includes locations across the United States and Canada.
