NEGRIL, Westmoreland — Staff and students of the Cove Primary School were in a joyful mood when their refurbished libary and a new computer room, courtesy of the Sandals Foundation, were handed over recently.

Sabrina Stewart, daughter of Sandals Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart, her friends and the Sandals Foundation teamed up and provided a much-needed facelift to the school’s library. The group of volunteers engaged in painting, building of shelves and donations of chairs, tables, filing cabinets and 500 books. Team members of Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple Negril Resorts also dedicated hours to organising the books by topics for ease of use. They volunteered their time to clean, paint and sort the library.

The school later received a major boost to their learning initiatives through the donation of three laptops for their computer lab from a philanthropic seventh grade, United States-based student, Gabriella Frank. Frank copped the Meatheads ‘Cowmunity’ Award in her hometown for her years of collecting books and school supplies for those in need. This donation came with a US$500 prize, which she opted to donate towards a project spearheaded by the Sandals Foundation. This donation was used to purchase the three computers for the school.

“This space has come as a blessing for Cove Primary,” said Principal Patrice Campbell. “Our students live in and around Cove and were very much interested in having a comfortable library close by. Before this library, the nearest one (public library) that could be accessed was the Hanover Parish Library in Lucea and that can be a little costly, especially for those who have to travel there often to do research work for school. With the variety of books and the new computers now at [Cove], information is really at their fingertips and we can’t thank the Sandals team and the wonderful donors for this much-needed investment in our students’ and teachers’ quest for knowledge,” said the principal.

Grade five student Mareon Patterson said she is now happy to have somewhere nearby to do her research but she also enjoys reading for fun as well. “Our new library is so cozy and the books are so interesting. Every week I try to borrow a different book to read,” she said, eyeing a new book in the fiction section of the library.

The Sandals Foundation assists in a number of activities at the school, including reading road trips with resort guests, marine lessons, sponsorship of educational events and Christmas treats.