As part of its giving back ethos, JetBlue is providing supplies to a variety of organisations and agencies including the City of New York and its Department of Social Services; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County, Florida.; United Way of Broward County in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tacoma Rescue Mission in Seattle; Long Beach Rescue Mission in Los Angeles County, California, and local soup kitchens in Boston.
As part of JetBlue’s focus on sustainability and its JetBlue For Good platform, retiring Mint items will be revitalised in an impactful way. The airline is providing unused and gently used and cleaned items like blankets, pillows, dishes and cutlery to those who need them most, while also diverting waste from landfills. JetBlue is also providing unused amenity kits and toiletries to homeless shelters, and headphones to some of the JetBlue Foundation’s education partners to assist students in virtual learning.
“As we refresh our Mint service, consistent with our mission to inspire humanity, it was important to us to put our previous product to additional good use,” said Icema Gibbs, director of corporate social responsibility and diversity, equity and inclusion for JetBlue. “Giving back is in our DNA. Instead of sitting in a warehouse or sending these gently and unused items to the landfill, we’re giving them a second life and helping the most vulnerable.”
JetBlue’s donation of blankets, pillows and amenity kits to the City of New York and its Department of Social Services were coordinated through a collaboration with the Partnership for New York City – a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the betterment of the city through its work with civic, business, labour and government leaders – will go directly to local shelters.
Additionally, dishware and cutlery will be donated to local soup kitchens through partnerships with the United Way of Broward County in Florida and local soup kitchens in Boston, among other organisations throughout JetBlue’s network, while headphones will be donated on behalf of the JetBlue Foundation to its education partners and grantees who will use them for virtual school and programming.
“We’re excited to present hundreds of kids in our program with headphones, thanks to the JetBlue Foundation, as part of our Share the Season celebration,” said Malena Mendez-Dorn, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County. “While our kids will use the headphones to listen to their favourite tunes, they’ll also plug them in to stay focused in their virtual classrooms, which is particularly important as many navigate school in an online setting. We’re thrilled that JetBlue has joined us in defending the potential of the young people we serve and appreciate their generous support.”
