Sandals Foundation and Island Routes Caribbean Adventure Tours together have raised more than US$12,000 towards their continued commitment to increase environmental awareness among children.

In an effort to o leverage its community based-tour, the Reading Road Trip, Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International, partnered with Island Routes, the world’s leading Caribbean attraction company, by using funds raised to purchase thousands of environmental awareness storybooks, games and resources.

Reading Road Trip is aimed at enhancing literacy levels and education across the Caribbean by encouraging visitors to the islands to bring the excitement of reading to children at local kindergarten and primary schools weekly.

This donation also forms part of the foundation’s efforts to increase its environmental engagement to 100,000 people over the next 10 years. All resources have been dispatched across the eight islands where Sandals and Beaches operate and will support the libraries of the various schools.

“Children are our best assets in developing a culture which practices positive environmental habits and change,” a news release from Sandals Foundation quotes its Executive Director Heidi Clarke. “By engaging schools, we can effectively build within our students a deep appreciation for the Caribbean’s ecosystems and harness within them those positive behaviours that seek to conserve and protect our land and marine resources.”

Ryan Terrier, vice-president of operators at Island Routes, said the Reading Road Trip sessions have been an effective community outreach programme.

“Giving back to the communities in which we work, live, and play is paramount to us at Island Routes, especially as it relates to our youth and the environment,” said Terrier. “By gifting these environmental books and games, we are unlocking a whole new world for our students to learn about the importance of our natural resources and how they can protect and conserve them.”

Sandals Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation created to continue and expand upon the charitable work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken since its founding in 1981 to play a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where the resort chain operates throughout the Caribbean.

The foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred per cent of the monies contributed by the general public to Sandals Foundation go directly to programmes benefiting the Caribbean community.

Island Routes is an independent operator of curated excursions and experiences in the operating in 12 Caribbean countries — Antigua; Aruba; The Bahamas; Barbados; the Cayman Islands; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Jamaica; Mexico; Saint Lucia; St Maarten; and the Turks & Caicos.