We’re in the midst of the season of gratitude and giving, and JetBlue took it a step further with a surprise trip to help an international community in the Caribbean, and Travel Noire was invited along for the ride along with the winners of the #CheckInForGood Contest. 

In October, the New York-based airline gave customers nationwide the opportunity to tell the company why they should be one of  50 do-gooders selected to fly to Destination Good for an all expenses paid, three-day volunteer trip — but the kicker was that they wouldn’t know the destination beforehand. Pretty cool, right?

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Well, on Tuesday at 6 am the winners, and their guests found out that they were all headed to the Dominican Republic as the destination was kept secret until flight check-in. After an early morning, a ribbon cutting ceremony, an in-flight true or false trivia session, and a four-hour flight, we made it to the Dominican Republic. 

©Bianca Lambert

 

While we’re taking in the warm temperatures and sunshine, the winners will spend the next three days focusing on Jet Blue For Good’s key values: youth and education, community and the environment. We will be working with The Dream Project to renovate a local school, the Paradisus by Meliá to beautify an outdoor space where the kids play, and Fundemar to build buoys that will help keep the ocean’s coral reefs protected.

RELATED: The Importance of Giving Back as a Traveler

I am looking forward to lending my time to this wonderful cause alongside my fellow do-gooders. If you want to keep up with is over the next few days, these hashtags: #CheckInForGood and #JetBlueForGood will keep you in the know!

Giving Tuesday might just be one day, but its always a good time to do good! Drop by the JetBlue For Good website to see where else the airline is leaving a lasting footprint.