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Meet our 2023 Scholarship Winners

Scholarship & Mentoring Program

Recently the Carnival Scholarship & Mentoring Program presented our 16 scholarship recipients with their Dell laptops at the Miami HEAT game on center court. The halftime event is a highlight for these students and their families. Each student was awarded one of our scholarships after a rigorous application and interview process. This is the 14th year Carnival Foundation has presented these fully prepaid scholarships to college-bound high school seniors. In total, more than 211 students have earned the benefits of our scholarships. Congratulations to all of the recipients!

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CCL Chief Fun Officer Shaquille O’Neal

Seeing Stars

For our final visitor of the year, we had a larger-than-life guest. Students and mentors were excited that NBA superstar and Carnival Cruise Line Chief Fun Officer Shaquille O’Neal popped into the zoom room to share his thoughts and advice, and take questions from the students. His message to seniors: “The real world starts today. Some will go to college, some will get job, but follow your dreams whatever they may be. Never let anyone tell you that you cannot become whoever you want to become.

“Before you succeed you must first learn to fail. I went left twice, let me go right. Then let me go straight. Sometimes you have to fight. You have to work, navigate, go through trials and tribulations. I urge you to never give up. And make it fun, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

Meet the 2022 Scholarship Recipients

Scholarship & Mentoring Program

This past weekend, Carnival Scholarship & Mentoring Program awarded 15 college scholarships to graduating seniors. In addition to the scholarship, the students received new laptops courtesy of Dell. It’s been an amazing journey for these students, who began at the Miami Heat Academy and came through our program in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami.

Thank you to all of the students and their families for joining us, and thank you to Gale Nelson, president & CEO of BBBS; Michael McCullough, chief marketing officer for Miami HEAT; Hakim Benzit, systems engineering manager for DELL; and Vicky Rey, VP guest care & communications of Carnival Cruise Line for helping us celebrate our students.

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2020 FIU Carnival Gold Scholars

Partners

The FIU Carnival Gold Scholars Reception and Dinner was held recently at the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus/Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. The Carnival Gold Scholars program awards renewable, full-tuition scholarships, including room and board, of up to $20,000 each to five new qualifying students every year. Meet the five new students selected to receive a scholarship: Celesse Temes, Danaisy Abascal-Yero, Tia Yahnke, Keyshawn Cole, and Jose Bernal. This is the sixth cohort of FIU Carnival Gold Scholars. To-date, the program has had 27 students that have participated in the program and 10 that have graduated. Congratulations to the new class!

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NRF Foundation Gala

Special Events

We recently attended the NRF Foundation Gala in New York, which Carnival Foundation supported. Bill Brand, SVP of retail for Carnival Corporation, serves on their board and we are thrilled to be involved with the organization. As the philanthropic arm of the National Retail Federation, the NRF Foundation stands up for the value of retail jobs at all levels and helps support a bigger, better pool of talent for retailers nationwide through education, training and experiences for everyone from high school and college students to people with barriers to employment.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast

Special Events

On #MLKDay, Carnival Foundation Executive Director Linda Coll attended the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Foundation’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast. The organization was founded by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, and the breakfast honors the young men that make up the Class of 2020 and the life and teachings of Dr. King. The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is a dropout prevention, mentoring program committed to closing the minority male achievement gap by guiding minority male students along a carefully charted path through grades K-12 and college or ensuring the attainment of other post-secondary credentials, and increasing their employability in higher wage, high skills jobs within high demand industries.

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Florida Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez Keynote Speaker During School-to-Work Visit

Scholarship & Mentoring Program

Yesterday Carnival Foundation held the January school-to-work visit. The guest speaker was Florida Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, who was elected as Florida’s first Latina Lieutenant Governor in 2018. Born and raised in Miami, her ties to Carnival run deeper than her speaking engagement. Nunez’s sister Isabel works for Carnival and is a mentor in the program! The Lt. Governor spoke to the group about how she first got involved in politics and about the challenges she faces finding a balance in her life as a wife, mom and elected official. She told the group that whatever they set out to do in life, they should do with passion and a purpose. She also spoke about the benefits of having a mentor and using the opportunity to learn and grow. We also recognized our mentors for National Mentoring Month, and the students gave their mentor a picture frame with a photo of the duo.

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Holiday Party 2019

Scholarship & Mentoring Program

Tis the season! Carnival Scholarship & Mentoring Program held its annual Holiday Party where we got to enjoy delicious food, great company and the incredible sounds of Carnival’s own DJ Spike! Our students brought their families to the party, and it was a great opportunity for some of the mentors to meet them for the first time. Everyone had a blast, dancing the night away and celebrating the holidays.

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End of School Year Celebration 2019

Scholarship & Mentoring Program

May’s School-to-Work visit is always bittersweet. We came together to celebrate another fun school year. We also celebrated and said goodbye to our joyful graduating seniors. We will see our returning students and mentors in September! Congratulations Class of 2019!

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2019 FUN Team Volunteer Reception

F.U.N. Team

The 24th annual FUN Team Volunteer Reception was held on June 5 to honor our outstanding volunteers for an amazing 2018. Volunteers were recognized for their efforts in helping thousands of people in our community through 52 projects and more than 2,000 community service hours. During the reception, we announced our Volunteer of the Year, Sales Support Representative Joann Conroy. Congratulations, Joann!

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