Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025. We are excited to share some great happenings and amazing things just around the corner.
Operations Update
We were able to make 27 grants in 2024, for a total of $32,000. We are grateful to the members of the public and corporations that donated to make this possible. We also help families raise $20,000 toward their own staff-assisted vacations through our GoCruiseMe platform.
Our Board of Directors have reviewed the Foundation’s operations and are implementing the following changes in 2025:
Dreams Come True
The Foundation wants to make its grants more impactful and reach families in the most need of support. We will shortly be releasing our first round of applications for our “Dreams Come True” grants, which will fully fund a cruise vacation (including transport to/from the port) for families of individuals with a disability. The families eligible to apply in this round will be contacted in early February. You can read more about the program on our website here.
GoCruiseMe
To cover credit card processing and administration costs, the Foundation regretfully needs to start charging a 10% fee for all funds raised through GoCruiseMe. This decision was not taken lightly but it is necessary for the proper operation of the platform. This and other updates to the GoCruiseMe terms and conditions can be found on the website here.
Fundraising Round Up
We closed out 2024 on a high note!
- The Newlon Family estalished Caroline’s Fund in cherished memory of a wife, mother and life-long teacher. The family is looking forward to contributing to our Dreams Come True grant program this year and into the future
- Corporations and Foundations continue to support our mission:
- The Trustmark Foundation donated $5,500 following a nomination by a family that cruises with AOTS.
- The employees of Lucet Corporation sponsored a donation of $4,000.
- The Rock Foundation donated $3,000
- Continuing their support for many years, Town Faire Tire donated $2,000.
- These donations have a massive impact, each one in itself sufficient to provide a Dream Come True staff-assisted vacation for a family in need. We are grateful for their generosity and continued support.
Continuing the trend, 2025 began strongly!
The community of Warwick, NY came together on Saturday January 18th for a night of music, friendship and fundraising. The talented pianist/ singer/ songwriter Sophie Worsley from Blackpool, England entertained the crowd at “Barn 108”, the beautiful home and performance space of Warwick residents Dixie Comeau and Greg Galluccio. Sophie was also joined by local high school student Julia, and together they delivered a stunning rendition of “Valerie”, made famous by Amy Winehouse. The event was sponsored by the Galderisi-Kohlmeier foundation that also generously matched all funds raised on the night, bringing the total donations to over $4,200. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved.
You can see Sophie and Greg performing Songbird in this video
We were blown away by your support for our Pizza-Pizza fundraiser with Little Cesars which wrapped up this week. With more than $1,000 in donations you beat our target by a mile! Our thanks to everyone who participated, we hope you enjoy your dinner, I know I did!
A huge shout out to Jeff J. from New Jersey, one of our valued cruise community members who started a Facebook fundraiser for his birthday in January and secured over $1,100 in donations from his generous friends and contacts. Look out for our promo on how to host your own social media fundraising for our Foundation, coming in February.
We’ve so much to look forward to in the coming months. As well as launching our Dreams Come True grants, we will be hosting our national sweepstake fundraiser in April with a Grand Prize of a Cruise for 4 people. Stay tuned, and be well!
Ian Hockley
AOTSF Program Director
