Cabot® Creamery Cooperative Announces September 'Reward Volunteers' Winners

CABOT, Vt., Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Spotsylvania, Virginia Volunteer Fire Department Secretary Sue Carter is the winner of a special Reward Volunteers Caribbean Cruise that sets sail on January 11, 2014. Carter and a guest of her choice will be joining more than 100 other volunteers, guests, and Cabot staff aboard the Celebrity Cruises® SUMMIT for a six-day, seven-night Caribbean Cruise, courtesy of the 1,200 farm families who own Cabot Creamery Cooperative. The Cabot Community Celebrity Award Cruise departs San Juan, Puerto Rico and stops in Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas, before returning to San Juan. Spending money and round trip airfare for the Cabot Community Celebrities are also included.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120213/MM52737LOGO )

"I can hardly believe I've won the cruise," Carter exclaimed. "It's an honor to be joining so many other volunteers who are being honored from around the nation. I look forward to meeting all of them and learning about ways that we can do more great things for the communities we serve through our nine different volunteer fire departments."

"The selection of our 'Reward Volunteers' Cabot Community Celebrity Award Cruise winner marks a milestone for the program," says Cabot Director of Marketing & Integrated Services, Jen Neary. "It's the culmination of recognizing and honoring one of the most active Reward Volunteers users over the past year. We're pleased that Sue will be joining an amazing group of like-minded volunteers from across the country to network, relax, and have fun."

The revolutionary iPhone App and web widget from Cabot Creamery Cooperative enables individuals and organizations to track the time they spend volunteering in their communities. At the end of each month, Cabot rewards them for their hard work, and for inspiring friends and family to do the same, with a variety of prizes. The more hours volunteers log, the more chances they have to win, both for themselves and the organizations they serve. Now in its fourth phase, the app has been updated with a number of new features and enhancements, and will honor its participating volunteers with more prizes than ever before.

"Since the very first round of Reward Volunteers in February of last year, we've been rewarding volunteers with tremendous prizes," says Neary. "Everything from farm vacations in Vermont to New England ski resort vacations, cash prizes, and more. But the Celebrity Cruise is the biggest of them all!"

Today also marks the end of the second month of Reward Volunteers 4.0, which launched on August 14. "Phase four of the program is already off to a great start," says Neary. "In September, 4,781 hours were logged by 296 volunteers, to the benefit of 381 organizations."

One of those volunteers is Gail Dener from Parkville, MD, who volunteers at Rebuilding Together Baltimore (RTB), a nonprofit, nonsectarian, volunteer organization dedicated to helping low-income homeowners, through home renovation and repair, and winner of the $500 cash reward. "My experience with RTB is nothing short of amazing," Dener says.  "Just having the opportunity to interact with our clients, who are low income homeowners trying to get assistance in repairing their homes, is so rewarding. Often, the families have had illnesses that wiped out the family savings or the sudden death of a breadwinner that cut the family income in half, and that made it so difficult to keep up the maintenance of their homes. By the time they call us, there may be multiple problems, and the homeowner is overwhelmed," she says. "I joined the staff as a volunteer about three months after I retired from the federal government, and am thankful everyday that I get to work with such dedicated people as the Rebuilding Together Baltimore staff. And I get to learn new skills, and keep up my old ones, too!"

Among the many prizes available in Phase 4 of the program are:

• Thousands of dollars in cash prizes for individuals and organizations, including Grand Prizes of $5,000 for one non-profit and $1,500 for one individual
• A four-season weekend getaway for two (includes stays at Trapp Family Lodge, The Mountain Club on Loon, Higgins Beach Inn, The Nonantum Resort)
• Farm vacations to Liberty Hill Farm, Couture's Farm, Emergo Farms, Mountain View Inn, Escobar's Inn, and Sprout Creek Farm
• Family ski vacation to Smugglers Notch
• King Arthur Flour, National Cooperative Grocers Association, and Dakin Farm Gift Cards
• Danforth Mariner Pewter Oils Lamps
• Cabot Farm Family Gift Baskets and Cabot Cheddar Gift Packs
• Keurig Coffee Machines and a year's supply of Green Mountain Coffee
• Dansko Shoes

For a complete list of Reward Volunteers 4.0 prizes, visit rewardvolunteers.coop/prizes.php.

Reward Volunteers was conceived and created by Cabot Creamery Cooperative, and is sponsored by AARP Create the Good, All for Good, Marriott, Co+op Stronger Together, Hope for Women, Points of Light, and Volunteer Spot.

LATEST PRIZE WINNERS
Cabot Community Celebrity Cruise
Sue Carter, Spotsylvania, VA, Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire Department

$1,000 Prize for Non-Profit Organization
Durant Road Elementary School PTA, Raleigh, NC

$500 Prize for RV User
Gail Dener, Rebuilding Together Baltimore, Parkville, MD

Trapp Family Lodge Vacation
April M., Dover, NH, Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains

Liberty Hill Farm Vacation
Crystal A., Mesa, AZ, Valley Dogs Rescue

Emergo Farms Bed & Breakfast Vacation
Lela G., Las Vegas, NV, American Red Cross - Southern Nevada Chapter

$100 King Arthur Flour Gift Card
Debbie K., Concord, NH, Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains

$100 NCGA Gift Card
Jennifer R., Kenne, NH, Monadnock Buy Local

Dansko Shoes
Dennis M., Resounding Harmony
Michele M., Antler Ridge Wildlife Sanctuary

Sending Milk Books and Hope For Women ReStyle Bracelets
Edward J., Beltsville, MD, Good Knight Child Empowerment Network
Marimi R., Orlando, FL, Give Kids The World Village
Van A., Haverhill, NH, UNH Cooperative Extension – Grafton County
Donna R-D., Special Olympics, NY, Long Island, NY

$75 Cabot Cheddar Gift Basket
Barb C., Pasadena, MD, USA Swimming

Farm Families Gift Basket
Heather C., Rockford, IL, Critter Camp

Danforth Pewter "Skipper" Lamp
Michael L., Apex, NC, Northwest Community Church

A complete list of the organizations benefiting from the Reward Volunteers can be accessed at: http://www.cabotcheese.coop/orgs.html

ABOUT CABOT CREAMERY COOPERATIVE
Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919, and makes a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter. Widely known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar," Cabot is owned by the 1200 dairy farm families of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier dairy cooperative, with farms located throughout New England and upstate New York. For more information on Cabot, visit: http://www.cabotcheese.coop.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative is the world's first cheese maker and dairy cooperative to achieve B Corporation Certification, a validation of its attention to environmental and social impacts on stakeholders.

Contact: Bob Schiers
1.888.214.9444 or [email protected]

SOURCE Cabot Creamery Cooperative