Employees of Tauck World Discovery and their family members made a pilgrimage to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA last week to work on preservation and beautification projects at the “living history” museum that recreates the first permanent European settlement in southern New England. The 230 Tauck workers were joined by 20 volunteers from Collette Vacations and by staff from Tourism Cares, the travel industry philanthropic group.
The volunteers worked on a number of projects, including restoring the palisade surrounding the recreated 1627 village. Other volunteers worked inside the museum’s Visitors Center, where they painted and completed other beautification projects. A number of children of Tauck employees also participated by decorating the recreated Mayflower II as a “haunted pirate ship” for an upcoming Halloween event.
“We’ve been bringing our guests to iconic attractions and destinations for over 80 years,” said Beth Young, who manages Tauck’s “World of Giving” philanthropic efforts. “It’s entirely appropriate that we take an aggressive and active role in helping preserve them for future generations.”
Tauck also used the occasion to provide a $40,000 World of Giving grant to Plimoth Plantation for its junior docent program, which was supplemented by a $10,000 grant from Tourism Cares.
The participation of Collette Vacations marks the second time this year that Tauck and Collette volunteers have joined together to support a worthy cause. In June, more than 50 volunteers from the two companies came together to tackle a wide range of maintenance and beautification projects at the Nuweetooun School in Exeter, RI, in an effort organized by Collette. “These events demonstrate not only the need for this type of beautification effort to continue, but for the industry to continue supporting them,” said Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., Collette president and CEO, who was one of the 20 Collette volunteers. “It is gratifying to see what we’re able to accomplish together.”
Tauck has been bringing guests to the Plymouth area for most of its 83-year history, including Plimoth Plantation on selected New England itineraries for decades. The two-day Tauck effort is the latest in a series of annual employee voluntourism events, which typically support historic and cultural attractions in the Northeast. Past events have included volunteer efforts at Boston’s Old North Church, Ellis Island National Monument in New York harbor, Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania, and Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington and Concord, MA.
Visit www.plimoth.org.