Fund Raising and Charities

On the weekend of July 23rd through the 25th Scott Brunnenmeyer, Director of Operations, joined the nation in honoring the fallen and wounded soldiers at the Families United National Weekend of  Remembrance as Sundance Vacations sponsored the Weekend event.

The event kicked off on Friday night with the Gold Star Family dinner in Washington DC. Families United invited all families that had lost a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan, which brought over 500 families throughout the country. They bring these families through various events throughout the year; this being the largest event. This was a formal event that seated families together by state for an evening honoring their Heroes and allowing them to share their stories with each other. Among the families at the dinner were top ranking officials, 3 star Generals, Admirals and a keynote by Vice Joint Chief Of Staff General James E. Cartwright.  Wayne Newton, with the USO, also performed at the dinner for the Fallen Soldiers’ families. The honorable Scooter Libby was also present for the dinner.

Scott, who is also a Captain in the Army, said that, “It is amazing to see such great family oriented organizations like Families United that will continue to support the fallen soldiers’ families. It gives great reassurance that if something ever happened that my family would have great support.” On Saturday, they had a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which Scott said was “the most emotional part of the whole weekend.”

Following the event in the Arlington Cemetery, there was a  “Hero’s Festival” and concert by country singer Aaron Tippin  at Six Flags America. At the festival the families were able spend time with Armed Service members and enjoy a hot and fun-filled day at the amusement park. Throughout the day there were moments of silence and a lunch/picnic for the families.

On Sunday there was a final service at Washington National Cathedral. Many families stayed to attend the nations largest most respected cathedral for a religious service. Throughout the whole weekend across the country many businesses and news stations were taking time to remember our fallen heroes as well. Scott said that “ I am greatly moved that Sundance Vacations decided to sponsor the event and that I was able to be there for it all.”

For more information on Families United check out the website FamiliesUnitedMission.com. The website lists events and ways to get involved. The next event being held is the Pennsylvania Gold Star Family Luncheon, which will be held in Philadelphia on August 14th.

Sundance Vacations is proud to announce the start of our Fundraising “Fun Bucks” campaign – an exciting and easy way to raise funds for any organization. Whether it is for your school yearbook, soccer team, charity event, or boy-or-girl-scout troop, Sundance Vacations can help you raise funds right away – with absolutely no out of pocket costs.

The Fundraising “Fun Bucks” program has something for everyone.

• The organization will earn $100 for every qualified customer who attends a one-hour fun, upbeat presentation at Sundance Vacations.
• The participant will earn valuable prizes such as gift cards, event tickets, electronics, sports equipment, and even a vacation for four to Disney World!
• The guest who attends the presentation will receive a $20 dinner certificate and two tickets to an upcoming Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees baseball game.
• Sundance Vacations gets the opportunity to meet many new potential travelers.

It’s Easy to Participate.

All you need to do is invite your family, friends and neighbors to visit our office at 264 Highland Park Blvd. in Wilkes-Barre (directly across from Mohegan Sun Arena) for a brief presentation about Sundance Vacations.

At the end of each week during the one-month campaign, the organization will be paid $100 for each qualified guest. If just 100 family members or friends of your organization participate, the organization can raise $10,000!

Sign-Up.

For further details and to get started on your one-month fundraising campaign, call 570-820-0900 x1101 or e-mail us at funbucks@vacmail.com.

Sundance Vacations invited five Parent Teacher Organizations to a private showing of the company’s “School Bucks” program at the company’s corporate headquarters on Monday, October 5th.

Sundance Vacations introduced their “School Bucks” program. The program was designed to help Parent Teacher Organizations obtain money for their organization without having to fundraise.

PTO’s in attendance were: Crestwood High School, St. Nicholas Elementary school in Wilkes-Barre, and Lee Park Elementary in Hanover Township. The company held a drawing for all PTO’s in attendance. Sundance Vacations contributed $1000 to Lee Park Elementary-the winning school. Lee Park plans to put the monetary donation towards their school’s annual Santa’s Workshop in December.

Sundance Vacations recently donated school supplies as well as three office desks to John Bartram High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The supplies donated will benefit students in grades 9-12. The supplies ranged from binders, pen and pencils, notebooks, folders, pencil sharpeners for the classroom, Sharpie markers, etc. In addition to the donation of school supplies, Sundance Vacations employees also donated three office desks to teachers at John Bartram High School. The donations were very much appreciated by the students and teachers alike. “Sundance Vacations understands that a brighter future for Philadelphia starts with the children in our school systems, especially the students at John Bartram High School,” said Assistant VP of Sales Shane Lewis.

Do you have any recommendations for the next Sundance Vacations donation?

Sundance Vacations recently donated a vacation week to the Chicago Better Business Bureau in support of the Chicago BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. The company is honored to support the 13^th Annual Torch Awards Program. Sundance Vacations donated a seven night free vacation to one of Sundance Vacations’ numerous resort properties. The Torch Award ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 3^rd at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, Chicago. Sundance Vacations has a proud member of the Chicago Better Business Bureau since 2005.

Have you made a donation recently? What is your favorite charitable organization to donate to?

Sundance Vacations recently donated to the RAACE Foundation. The RAACE (Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere) Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect children against sexual abuse. Sundance Vacations was contacted by Mr. Brad Brickel, a RAACE participant, to sponsor him in a RAACE fundraiser. Sundance Vacations Founder Tina Dowd received the call and was eager to help. Tina Dowd presented an idea to give employees the opportunity to donate their employee incentive points to the RAACE Foundation. When announced, Marketing Department employees were eager to donate their points. The employee’s V-points were then converted into a cash donation. Sundance Vacations raised a total of 85,504 V-points. The company generously matched the money raised, making the GRAND TOTAL– $3,353.00.

Great Job Sundance Vacations, it’s always nice to see employees come together and make a difference!!

What are some charities that you have volunteered with or donated to?

Sundance Vacations recently teamed up with the Philadelphia Eagles Youth Partnership. The company participated in this year’s fundraising event themed “Flight Night”.

Sundance Vacations has been a proud supporter of the Eagles Youth Partnership (EYP) since 2007. The company has contributed more than $10,000 to the EYP organization. Sundance Vacations King of Prussia employees participated in Eagles Flight Night’s huge success which surpassed attendance and fundraising goals. The event brought more than 31,000 Philadelphia Eagles football fans from all across the region to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa on Aug. 2, raising more than a million dollars for the organization!

All funds raised at Eagles Flight Night benefit Eagles Youth Partnership’s (EYP) community programs. Eagles Youth Partnership serves over 50,000 low income children in Greater Philadelphia every year with an immense focus on health and education programming. EYP takes its services directly to kids at their schools and in their neighborhoods. These mobile services – the Eagles Eye Mobile and Eagles Book Mobile programs – are like wings on wheels, blending celebrity with fun in order to reach the hardest to reach children.

Sundance Vacations was proud to be a part of the fun at Eagles Flight Night, and we look forward to next years fundraiser.

Sundance Vacations recently partnered up with WVIA, a local public broadcasting station, during their annual TV Auction. Sundance Vacations donated a free week vacation accommodation to Hilton Head, or Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Sundance Vacations employees volunteered at WVIA’s Studio in Pittston, Pa answering phones, while callers placed their bids.

Sundance Vacations participation in the travel auction will help WVIA continue their mission to stimulate, enrich, educate and entertain the community. Hopefully you placed your bid on the vacation package, because bidding ended Saturday, May 2^nd. Thank you again to all employees who helped answer phones and to WVIA for continuing to work toward public broadcasting enrichment for the public community.

Did you get a chance to see Sundance employees hard at work answering phones? What is your favorite program that WVIA airs?

Sundance Vacations successfully raised $2830 for Habitat for Humanity during our participation in Make a Difference Day. Several Sundance Vacations’ employee volunteered to build a home in downtown Wilkes Barre. In addition to the volunteers who dug ditches and carried construction debris, many employees made a difference by selling tickets for $5 to win an excess inventory vacation.
The funds raised in each office will be sent directly to the Habitat for Humanity that is local to that area. The winner of the excess inventory week was Leona Dworchaek from the Shamokin area. The employee who sold the most tickets was Pam Fantaskey. Pam also won an excess inventory vacation for raising the most funds.
We also want to express our gratitude to the entire staff who helped make this charity event a big success. We will enroll our “event” in the Make a Difference contest. If our charity event is chosen as the winner, we will get $10,000 from Newman’s Own Salad Dressing to donate to Habitat for Humanity.
We will participate in the Make a Difference Day again next year. We will be looking for bigger volunteer opportunities for next year. Send in your ideas.

Brian and Kristine visited our King of Prussia location and became clients of Sundance Vacations on December 12, 2007; they met with Rhonda Fisher.  During their meeting, Rhonda was informed that Brian was with Cambell’s soup USA. Rhonda told them about the charity endeavors of our company and they thought it was great that we stay so involved in helping the community. A few days later, Brian and Kristine returned with their family and 5 cases of soup in tow! They asked that the soup be taken by our folks to the St John’s hospice in Philadelphia. We would like to thank Brian and Kristine again for their generosity and kindness. It is people like them who make coming to work such a positive experience.                                                                                                                                          

What volunteer or charity work have you been involved in? Do you have any ideas or suggestions for charities that you think Sundance should participate in?