JetBlue Blog

Did you know that only one-in-five children lives within walking distance of a park or playground? Following Hurricane Sandy, that number has increased in impacted areas. In the aftermath of natural disasters, play becomes even more critical as it creates a sense of normalcy and provides an emotional outlet for children. In an effort to support children in those areas most impacted, we’ve extended our pledge to rebuild New York with a commitment to allocate support for three playground builds this year in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Our first post-Hurricane Sandy playground build will take place on May 18 at Magnolia Playground in Long Beach, NY. Two more builds will be announced later this Spring. Long Beach, located in Nassau County, Long Island, experienced significant damage to its shoreline and infrastructure. Magnolia Playground was destroyed nearly six months ago and hundreds of children living in the area have not had a suitable place to play since Hurricane Sandy.

The future site of a brand new playground in Long Beach!

While every KaBOOM! playground build is an inspiring event, the post-Hurricane Sandy playground builds will give volunteers a special chance to reflect on the storm’s impact while renewing their neighborhood. More than 200 volunteers from JetBlue, the City of Long Beach, Surf for All, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the local community will join forces to build a new play space at Magnolia Playground. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by children who participated in a Design Day event in March.

Magnolia Playground is the 17^th playground build by KaBOOM! in partnership with JetBlue. We’ve worked together over the last seven years to create play spaces for children across JetBlue’s communities and help fight the deficit of play for children in undeserved neighborhoods and areas under development following natural disasters. This partnership has successfully engaged more than 3,800 volunteers to move 16 tractor trailers full of mulch, which now benefit more than 10,000 children. JetBlue is a KaBOOM! National Partner, a group of organizations providing long-term guidance and support to KaBOOM! and its mission.

Since Hurricane Sandy, JetBlue has coordinated several efforts to provide assistance to its neighbors and help rebuild communities in New York. Just last month, JetBlue made significant progress in revitalizing Highland Park in Brooklyn. Airline crewmembers and community volunteers planted more than 2,500 trees in an area identified by the New York City Parks Department as a priority location for revitalization efforts. The 100-acre park lost a significant stretch of trees due to Hurricane Sandy. Additionally, in the days following the storm, JetBlue partnered with the NYC Food Truck Association to serve more than 25,000 meals to residents throughout in impacted areas. The airline also donated $820,000 to the American Red Cross on behalf of its customers for relief efforts in the New York area.

Learn more about our partnership with KaBOOM!
Learn more about our community efforts around Hurricane Sandy

Our Corporate Social Responsibility team and members of our partner KaBOOM! hosted a design day for our upcoming playground build in Long Beach, NY – our first build in a Sandy impacted community. We’ll be building two more playgrounds later this year to help other communities hard hit by Sandy, our show of support for rebuilding New York’s neighborhood’s as the state’s Hometown Airline.

To kick off the planning process, our crewmembers sat down with more than 40 children, ages three through 14, and discussed the playground of their dreams; something we plan to make a reality for this struggling local neighborhood that was hard hit by the storm.

The build will take place on Saturday, May 18. We’re still finalizing locations and dates, so stay tuned for details.

Check out coverage of the day from LongBeachNY.TV

Following Hurricane Sandy, we told you about a few ways we’re planning to help rebuild our local communities. As promised, we have some details to share. We’re partnering with KaBOOM! to build three playgrounds in areas affected by the storm. You, along with friends and family, can head to KaBOOM!’s website to nominate an affected area. The building will take place between May and September, so once the locations are decided, we’ll let you know how you can volunteer to help!

As part of our rebuilding efforts we’re also dedicating our Annual One Thing That’s Green New York event to a neighborhood that has been impacted by Hurricane Sandy. For this event, we will once again be partnering with New York Restoration Project (NYRP) to plant trees on Saturday, April 20. Stay tuned for more!

In observance of National Day of Service, we’re encouraging our crewmembers across our 75 city network to make a positive impact in their local communities through volunteer service. This year’s “Light Up A Life” campaign will provide resources and support to children in foster care in partnership with Together We Rise (TWR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in the foster care system.

During January and February, our crewmembers will decorate and deliver close to 2,000 “Sweet Cases” with TWR. “Sweet Cases” are decorative suit cases and duffle bags filled with stuffed animals, coloring books, hygiene kits and other items. Foster children are often forced to move with a moment’s notice and many times are only provided with a trash bag for their belongings. JetBlue partnered with the TWR to donate personally designed “Sweet Cases” to children ages 4-10.

JetBlue displays its “Caring” and “Passion” values by encouraging crewmembers to volunteer every day through our ‘Community Connection’ program. This volunteerism platform acknowledges and rewards our 14,500 crewmembers for their community service both as individuals and as teams. For every 25 hours a crewmember volunteers, JetBlue donates one roundtrip flight to the non-profit organization of the crewmember’s choice. Some volunteers have amassed more than 500 volunteer hours for causes including Making Strides for Breast Cancer, Charles River Center for Autism and KaBOOM!.

Our annual Swing for Good and Bid for Good efforts combine to make up our largest charitable fundraisers of the year. We are proud to share that this year’s efforts helped to raise $420,000 for our non-profit partners KaBOOM! and PBSKids. As a result of the generosity of our customers, corporate sponsors and crewmembers, each worthy cause will receive $210,000. Over the past four years, the Swing For Good and Bid For Good fundraising campaigns have raised more than $1 million for a variety of our nonprofit partners.

The Swing for Good Golf Classic began in 2009 to build awareness for JetBlue’s charitable partners.  This event began as friendly competition with our business partners with the joint goal to make a difference in the communities we serve. We then added Bid for Good in 2010 as an extension of the golf event to further increase exposure for the benefiting charities and their work in the community. Bid For Good builds on the strength of the digital community to raise awareness and provides an option to donate for those that can’t attend the Golf Classic.

Both KaBOOM! and PBSKids plan to put these funds to good use. KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, will use the much needed funds to continue its work building safe play spaces in underserved areas. While, PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, will use the funds towards scholastic-based programming and resources.

The Bid For Good online auction provided customers the chance to bid on JetBlue Getaways vacation packages, exclusive access to VIP sporting events, signed memorabilia and other one-of-a-kind experiences.  Top bids went for unique experiences including a chance to throw the first pitch at a Boston RedSox game and Super Bowl 2013 tickets. While, the Golf Classic included a day of golf, an onsite silent auction, prizes and more.

Today we’re launching True Giving, a unique enhancement to our TrueBlue customer loyalty program that provides members with an alternate way to use their TrueBlue points. TrueBlue customers now have the choice to redeem their points for future travel or donate them to benefit others. Points can be donated locally or globally to more than 2.5 million causes in the True Giving database which is powered by KULA Causes, Inc.

During the season of giving, we’ll match all customer donations made through this program, up to $25,000, from December 10 – 17, 2012. TrueBlue members can donate points at Truegiving.jetblue.com.

Caring and passion, two of our core values, are the motivation for True Giving.  We partnered with KULA Causes, Inc., the world’s largest online giving platform to create the True Giving program providing our customers with a choice in their charitable efforts. We proudly support a number of national non-profits on a corporate level including Carbonfund.org, DoSomething.org, KaBOOM!, and FirstBook. Customers can make donations to the charity of their choice by entering a charity name, a keyword or selecting the regions and countries or local causes of interest. Donations are made in increments of points; transaction fees apply. Customer donations can be applied to categories specific to each charity including development, training, advocacy, etc. Once the donation is completed, a receipt is emailed to the customer from Kula Causes.

True Giving is an evergreen donation program and it follows our most recent donation campaign for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.  Throughout the month of November, we quickly mobilized to engage customers and TrueBlue members to raise funds for the Red Cross. In one month, customers donated more than $835,000. The donation site, also powered by KULA Causes, provided the platform for customers to donate directly to relief efforts right in their local communities in the New York tri-state area. For every one dollar donated via the site, TrueBlue members received six TrueBlue points in return. Through this transactional giving program, our loyal customers became donors and brand advocates providing much needed, time sensitive charitable donations.

Last weekend, we completed our 16th playground build with our partner, KaBOOM! More than 200 volunteers turned out to construct a dream playground for the children of charter school Kathleen C. Wright Leadership Academy. Before our build, the children were bussed to an offsite location to play, since there was no grounds or facilities to accommodate recess. The teachers and children were incredibly moved by the turnout of volunteers and their dedication to the project; in fact, our speedy team completed the build in approximately five hours—way ahead of schedule!

Joining our crewmember volunteers and KaBOOM! representatives were fans of the Florida Panthers, the professional hockey team we sponsor. Approximately 60 members of the Panthers staff came out to participate in the playground build, making this the first time we’ve ever KaBOOM!-ed with one of our sponsor partners.

We’re proud to announce a partnership with K.C.  Wright Leadership Academy and KaBOOM! to build a playground on the school’s premises further highlighting the airline’s commitment to Ft. Lauderdale and the surrounding community.  JetBlue and KaBOOM! joined forces with the Florida Panthers and their fans to build the first-ever playground at  K.C. Wright Leadership Academy in Tamarac, FL. The children who attend K.C. Wright Leadership Academy do not currently have a playground to enjoy.  Understanding that children discover the world through play, the new playground will provide more than 150 children in the local community with a safe source of recreation. The new playground’s blueprint is based on drawings created by children from the school who participated in a Design Day event in September.

JetBlue and long-standing partner KaBOOM! have worked together over the last seven years to build safe places to play for children across the airline’s network. This partnership has successfully engaged more than 3,000 volunteers and served more than 8,000 children through 16 playground builds. The playground at K.C. Wright Leadership Academy marks the fourth build in Florida through the collaboration.

Learn more about our partnership and previous events with KaBOOM!

Due to overwhelming support from our customers, we have added three new music-themed celebrity auction lots to our Bid For Good online charitable auction, available through November 6 at charitybuzz.com/support/jetblue.

Our annual Swing for Good and Bid for Good efforts make up our largest charitable fundraiser of the year.This year, we are poised to hit the $1 million mark for funds raised to date for our nonprofit partners. Proceeds raised by this year’s campaign will benefit KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America; and PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids.

These three new fun-filled music themed lots include:

-A Soul Train Awards Package in Las Vegas - The 2012 Soul Train Awards is a two-hour celebration of the hottest artists in R&B, Hip-Hop and Classic Soul music and will take place November 8-10, 2012. One lucky winner will receive two tickets to the 2012 Soul Train Awards hosted by Cedric the Entertainer at Planet Hollywood LIVE in Las Vegas and two tickets to either the Comedy Show or the New Edition Concert as well as exclusive access to the official after party. Travel and accommodations are not included. Bidding starts at $500 and closes on November 1, 2012.

-An Exclusive Experience With Grammy Award Winners Mumford & Sons at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles - Glassnote Records recording artists Mumford & Sons will perform their last U.S. show of the year on November 10, 2012 in Los Angeles. In addition to airfare, provided courtesy of JetBlue, and concert tickets, one fortunate fan will also take home a Mumford & Sons signed poster and CD and a copy of their new CD Babel on vinyl. Bidding starts at $200 and closes on November 6, 2012.

-An Adam Lambert Signed Tie From Designer Cedarwood State – American Idol finalist Adam Lambert just wrapped his overseas tour promoting his new album Trespassing. Adam Lambert stepped into the national spotlight in 2009, after he became a finalist on the eighth season of the reality television competition show, American Idol where he earned comparisons to glam rockers like Freddie Mercury and Gene Simmons. One of his top fans will win a Cedarwood State tie signed by Adam. Bidding starts at $100 and closes on November 6, 2012.

Our Swing for Good Golf Classic began in 2009 to build awareness for our charitable partners. We created Bid for Good in 2010 as an extension of the golf event to further increase exposure for benefiting charities and their work in the community.

Learn more about Bid For Good
Learn more about our Corporate Social Responsibility team