Carnival Presents Check for Scholarships to Florida Prepaid College Foundation

Photo Caption: Back row, from left: Eric Woolworth, president of business operations for the Miami HEAT; Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Martha de la Pena Rojas, South Florida market senior manager of market development and community relations for Florida Blue; Udonis Haslem, HEAT forward; Linda Coll, director of Carnival Foundation; Jose Vidal, client services analyst for C1 Bank; Mario Chalmers, HEAT guard; Stanley G. Tate, founder of the Florida Prepaid College Foundation; Senator Ron Silver, board member of the Florida Prepaid College Foundation; and HEAT center Hassan Whiteside. Front row kids, accompanied by Burnie the mascot, are HEAT Academy students from Riverside, Dunbar and McCreary Elementary schools.

MIAMI (May 15, 2015) — At an event May 14, Carnival Foundation and Carnival Corporation & plc presented a check in the amount of $160,000 to the Florida Prepaid College Foundation for scholarships benefiting HEAT Academy students. Fifteen fifth-grade HEAT Academy students will become eligible for a Carnival Scholarship that matures in 2022, the fifth-grade class’ expected graduating year. This marks the 13th consecutive year that Carnival has funded the scholarships, and during this time the company has purchased 195 scholarships with a total value of more than $2.2 million.

The Carnival Scholarships, developed in collaboration with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation, enable 15 fifth-grade students who are currently enrolled in HEAT Academy to be eligible for a four-year tuition scholarship to an accredited Florida college or university of their choice upon graduating high school. Florida Prepaid College Foundation provides a matching donation to fund these scholarships. In March, the sixth HEAT Academy graduating class was awarded 15 Carnival Scholarships. Carnival has presented 91 students with scholarships over the past six years.