Utah National Guard and Stampin’ Up! Surprise Guard Members with a Special Bermuda ‘Tour of Duty’
January 16, 2008
Stampin’ Up! donates 85
cruise cabins worth more than $300,000 to the Utah National Guard
Draper, UTAH (January 16, 2008)— The Utah National Guard and Utah-based
Stampin’ Up! surprised Guard members today with a special ‘tour of duty’ — a
seven-day cruise to Bermuda that leaves New York City on March 29. During a specially coordinated Guard meeting
at the Utah National Guard Headquarters in Draper, Stampin’ Up!’s CEO and co-founder,
Shelli Gardner, thanked the Guard members for their service and announced that
each of them won a cruise to Bermuda with a loved one. Stampin’ Up!’s donation
of the 85, double-occupancy, cruise cabins are worth more than $300,000.
“We are grateful to all of the Guard members for their
service in representing and protecting Utah and the U.S.,” Gardner said. “They
demonstrate true loyalty and selflessness in fulfilling their duties locally
and overseas. As a token of appreciation from Stampin’ Up!, we are extremely
thrilled and honored to donate these cruise cabins to the Utah National Guard.”
The
Utah National Guard’s Family Programs’ Office, which enhances the readiness and
well being of military families, coordinated the selection of Guard members who
will be going on the cruise. Guard members were invited to enter a random
drawing to win one of the 85 Bermuda cruise cabins. A significant number of
those chosen are Guard members who have been deployed, or will soon be
deployed, to Iraq or Afghanistan. And many of these men and women have served
multiple tours of duty overseas and have faced separations from their families
and friends for great lengths of time.
“We
thank Stampin’ Up! for their generous donation to the Utah National Guard and
for thinking of those Guard members who diligently serve our country,” said
Annette Barnes, Director of the Utah National Guard’s Family Programs’ Office.
“This cruise will be a wonderful opportunity for Guard members to relax and
enjoy a much-deserved vacation with a loved one.”
Each
year, Stampin’ Up!, a leading manufacturer and distributor of decorative rubber
stamps and accessories, rewards its top independent sales consultants, called
‘demonstrators,’ with wonderful and well-earned incentive cruises. With a
strong belief in giving back to neighboring communities, Stampin’ Up!, has
donated cruise cabins to local charities for the past three years for use in
their fundraising efforts. In addition to the 85 cabins donated to the Utah
National Guard this year, Stampin’ Up! donated an additional 50 cabins to 25
local nonprofit organizations.
About Stampin' Up!
Stampin' Up!, a 19-year-old, $240-million, direct-sales company,
designs and manufactures an exclusive line of decorative rubber stamp sets and
offers accessories for home décor, greeting cards, craft projects and
scrapbooking. The company's size and recent growth reflect the ongoing
worldwide passion for decorative rubber stamping and crafting. Its products are
not sold in retail stores, but may be purchased at home workshops or through a
network of independent sales consultants called Stampin' Up!
"demonstrators." Currently, more than 50,000 demonstrators from the
United States, Canada, and Australia and recently New Zealand teach the art of
stamping and share their enthusiasm for stamping, scrapbooking, card making,
and home decor.
About
Utah National Guard
The Utah National Guard was formally organized on March 24, 1894 from a
long-standing tradition of protecting Utah’s citizens in the Utah Territory
during the mid- to late 1800s. Federal service of the Utah National Guard began
with the Spanish-American War in 1898. Since that time, the Guard has responded
to the nation’s calls for service and support during World Wars I and II,
Korea, and Operations Desert Storm, Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom. At one
point in 2003, the Utah National Guard had deployed more than 80 percent of its
force at one time to support the Global War on Terrorism, the highest figure
per capita in the Nation. The Guard has also assisted with many worldwide
security and humanitarian operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia and Kuwait.
Stateside duties have included providing support during the 2002 Salt Lake
Winter Olympic Games and in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita in August 2005. Today, the Utah
National Guard continues its support of local, state, and national priorities
by providing well equipped and highly trained Soldiers and Airmen to fulfill a
variety of missions.
About Utah National Guard’s Family Programs’ Office
By putting families
first and creating relationships of trust, the Utah National Guard’s Family
Programs’ Office enhances the readiness and well being of military families
through information, education, programs, and resources. The resources
available include deployment readiness organizers and checklists, several
family assistance centers that provide support and advice, and access to
military consultants who can help deployed Guard members’ families solve
various household and financial problems while their loved one is on active
duty.
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