{"id":4451,"date":"2017-12-01T11:13:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T17:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/?p=4451"},"modified":"2017-12-01T11:13:03","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T17:13:03","slug":"how-the-sandals-foundation-is-helping-the-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/?p=4451","title":{"rendered":"How the Sandals Foundation Is Helping the Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As Certified Sandals Specialists, it makes us very happy to see the Sandals Foundation’s ongoing efforts to help improve life, especially education, in the Caribbean. Here are some updates regarding their efforts.
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Almost 250 Dominican children, now studying and residing in Antigua, following the devastating passage of Hurricane Maria through their homeland, were recently surprised with a gift of school supplies and back packs by the Sandals Foundation.<\/p>\n

This is a continuation of a similar project, in coordination with the Ministry of Education of Antigua and Barbuda in September, where much-needed school supplies were gifted to Barbudan children displaced by Hurricane Irma.<\/p>\n

As part of a continuing effort to bring relief and recovery to those islands impacted by the destructive hurricane season this year, the Sandals Foundation, which operates in seven Caribbean countries, has committed itself to supporting the children and their families who left everything and moved to Antigua.<\/p>\n

In the immediate wake of Irma, Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Gordon \u201cButch\u201d Stewart announced a personal donation of EC$150,000 to assist the children of the island of Barbuda. Stewart\u2019s donation is being managed by the Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Sandals group.<\/p>\n

Sandals Grande Antigua General Manager Gaurav \u201cG\u201d Sindhi who was present at the National Public Library hand-over of back packs filled with school supplies, said the Foundation had made a long term commitment to supporting children and education impacted by the storms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our way of meeting the immediate needs of children, many of whom came to Antigua with very little personal possessions and need some assistance to get the most out of their education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Education to assist with the rebuilding of the primary school in Barbuda which is no longer operational.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Sandals Foundation believes education at all levels provides the greatest opportunities for positive change for individuals and nations throughout the Caribbean. Each year, they support thousands of students in educational facilities throughout the Caribbean community. The focus of the Sandals Foundation is ensuring as many children, youth and adults as possible have the educational opportunities they need to reach their full potential. Programs include community scholarships, adopted schools, book drives and literacy programs, and support of new libraries and computer facilities. One great example is the Junior Achievement program.<\/p>\n

Junior Achievement (JA) is a community based initiative that encourages students to hone their individual potential as an asset in the economy. It introduces financial literacy, ethics, entrepreneurial skills, leadership, team work and drive- all within a strategically developed program with alternative teaching methods that focus on active practical engagement. Teachers and volunteers lend their time and effort to carry out the program, in cooperation with the Junior Achievement organization that provides the necessary training and tools to deliver these lessons.<\/p>\n

At a program launch ceremony, held in St. George\u2019s, Grenada, George Harford, a local JA Director, commended Sandals Foundation for reviving the Junior Achievement for Primary Schools, as the program came to an abrupt hault in 2015, due to a lack of sponsorship. Notably, he commended another JA sponsor, Grenada Electricity Services Ltd. for their continuous support of JA for Secondary Schools. These sentiments were echoed by, Mrs. Maria Viechweg, Acting Deputy Chief Education Officer of the Ministry of Education, who also addressed the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Delivering a motivational speech was JA President of the year 2016-2017, Wesley Simon, student of the Presentation Brothers College. He encouraged other students to \u2018aim high\u2019 and persevere despite the challenges that arise as they pursue this program. Additionally he advised that their time management, team work and creativity skills will all be challenged and improved by the experience.<\/p>\n

Regionally, Sandals Foundation has been a longstanding partner of Junior Achievement and looks forward to this new undertaking in Grenada, \u201cWe are so pleased to partner once again with Junior Achievement. We have witnessed first-hand the enthusiasm of students who partake in this program and the new skills they walk away with. We are particularly excited to support this program at the primary school level as we believe that it is never too early to introduce entrepreneurial skills in the classroom. Through the hands on learning approach we feel the children really get a better understanding of the different aspects of a business and problem solving, which is knowledge we hope will lay the foundation for their future success. We thank the JA team for their continued commitment to this program and look forward to a productive and exciting year ahead,\u201d Corporate Director of Sandals Foundation, Heidi Clarke.<\/p>\n

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When the school year ended at the beginning of the summer, the Sandals Foundation and Scholastic Book Fairs, a division of Scholastic, the world\u2019s largest publisher and distributor of children\u2019s books, encouraged reading as the perfect past time for the summer holiday to help prevent the \u201csummer slide\u201d\u2014the learning loss which can occur over the summer months. In a continued effort to improve literacy across the Caribbean, the Sandals Foundation is ensuring that schools and libraries within the 8 islands where they operate are equipped with newest and most popular titles to keep kids\u2019 minds engaged this summer and prepared for the new school year.<\/p>\n

For a second consecutive year, Scholastic Book Fairs teamed up with the Sandals Foundation to donate 25,000 brand new children\u2019s books that were distributed across the islands of Antigua, Nassau, Exuma, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Turks & Caicos through the Foundation\u2019s \u201cReading Road Trip\u201d program. The \u201cReading Road Trip\u201d program, which is operated by Caribbean Island Routes, gives guests the opportunity to distribute books to students in Sandals Foundation supported schools.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Foundation aims to extend book ownership beyond schools and into the wider communities by providing books to local libraries. This initiative ensures that a larger number of children have access to quality books during the summer months and the opportunity to discover the power and joy of reading.<\/p>\n

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\u201cProviding students with access to engaging books is the best way to ensure that reading becomes a habit at an early age,\u201d said Larry Wissinger, Director of Business Development, Scholastic Book Fairs. \u201cChildren who develop a love of reading at an early age grow to become life-long learners with critical attention and comprehension skills which serve them in school, the workplace, and nearly everywhere else for the rest of their lives. The work between Scholastic and the Sandals Foundation creates a lasting legacy of literacy and learning for young readers in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SANDALS GUESTS & TRAVEL AGENTS ARE GETTING INTO THE GIVING SPIRIT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspired by their visit to the Balata Government School earlier this year, Sandals guests Bruce and Melinda Edwards from Fairfax Virginia donated EC$16,000 (US$6,000) to the Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts, for the rehabilitation of the bathrooms at the Balata Government School.<\/p>\n

The generous couple were guests at Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa in late March and participated in the Foundation\u2019s weekly Reading Road Trip Voluntourism Program that connects visitors with young students. This trip took them to the Balata School which has been the beneficiary of a series of projects and programs funded by the Sandals Foundation targeting both the upgrade of the facility and the well-being of the students.<\/p>\n

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Recently, 100 travel agents attending a conference at Sandals South Coast each brought fully-loaded backpacks for the children of the Mernsville Primary & Infant School and Bog Basic School in Westmoreland.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to help, you may visit the Sandals Foundation donation page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Certified Sandals Specialists, it makes us very happy to see the Sandals Foundation’s ongoing efforts to help improve life, especially education, in the Caribbean. Here are some updates regarding their efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[777],"tags":[625,524,716],"class_list":["post-4451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sandalsbeaches","tag-beaches","tag-sandals","tag-sandals-foundation"],"fifu_image_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4459,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4451\/revisions\/4459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}