Beaches Resort: More Than Just a Vacation

It started with a backpack.
In 2014 I visited my World Vision sponsored child in Uganda. Moses was 9 so I packed a backpack full of school supplies and of course, a soccer ball. We started sponsoring Moses when he was a toddler. We don't speak the same language {though he's learning English in school}, but we communicate through drawings. Every letter we've received from Moses has some beautiful hand-drawn picture on it and I reciprocate with some stick figure of my own on my letters. 
It's our thing. 

School supplies can be hard to come by. 

In rural places like the town Moses lives in Uganda, it's nearly impossible. Many school kids I met were using brown paper bags folded together to create a rough notebook of sorts that they would use the whole school year. 
I've since traveled with backpacks filled with school supplies and special items in my luggage to Zambia, Bangladesh and now the Turks and Caicos Islands. I've started looking at it as a gift of gratitude to the countries that are hosting me. I learn something every time I step foot on foreign soil, it's the least I can do to give back. It's why I was so excited to see that the Sandals Foundation was taking part in Pack for a Purpose when I went to visit Beaches Resort for the conference Social Media on the Sand.

Packing a backpack full of supplies in my suitcase wasn't the only way Beaches Resorts was giving back to the community. When you travel to Beaches all-inclusive resort, it's more than just a vacation, it's an opportunity to engage and empower the community you are visiting.

Beaches Resort: More Than Just a Vacation

Pack for a Purpose

Beaches Resorts is a drop off location for Pack for a Purpose. Think about the value you can add to your next vacation by packing up to 5 pounds of supplies that have been requested by a local community project. All you have to do is drop them off at the front desk of the resort and you can meet the needs of the people and places you are visiting with this simple act of generosity.
You can find the supply lists for destinations you are visiting at the Pack for a Purpose website. This is an example of the items that were requested for the school we visited in Turks and Caicos. 

We had an opportunity to paint a local school in the Turks and Caicos

Reading Road Trip

When I was in college I volunteered my time at a local elementary school listening to kids read. As a parent, I know first hand how important it is to give kids the space to improve their reading skills, as well as their listening and comprehension skills.
Any guest 8 and older staying at Sandals or Beaches Resorts has the opportunity to join in on the Reading Road Trip. It's a two-hour program that takes you into the community to one of the Sandal Foundations partner schools. It's offered every Thursday from 9am-11am when schools are in session and you will have the chance to get to read with an elementary aged child one on one. 
If you want to participate, don't forget to bring your favorite new or used book to donate to the library after your visit.

Giving Back to Relief Efforts

Last year, the conference Social Media on the Sand was scheduled in Turks and Caicos but had to be canceled because of an unwelcome guest in the form of a hurricane. The Caribbean is a beautiful place Sandals and Beaches Resorts have called home, but it doesn't mean they are immune to the devastation that hits from time to time. 
The Sandals Foundation recognizes that it's part of a larger community and they are first to respond to the community needs from earthquake relief efforts in Haiti in 2010 to their most current response to the flooding in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Supporting the Environment

I've been to a lot of all-inclusive resorts, but I've never seen one that takes as much care for their surrounding environment the way that the Sandals Foundation does. 
Starting on November 1, 2018, Beaches and Sandals Resorts will be eliminating single-use plastic straws and stirrers. It's a baby step towards the work they are already doing for the conservation of the marine waters the resorts are surrounded by.

The Sandals Foundation realizes they aren't the only ones existing and making a living on the islands they inhabit, but many community members they share space with make their living in the waters as well. 

Get up to $1000 booking credit, up to 65% rack rates, and much more when you book now.

For me, it started with a backpack.
On your next visit to a Beaches Resort it might start with a backpack too, but then it might turn into something bigger. 

Want to sponsor a child with World Vision? Help a child and their community to break free from poverty. Find a child to sponsor here.

The Sandals Foundation is doing their best to be a good neighbor in the communities it works in. I think that's a pretty awesome thing.

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