Sandals Launches Charitable Organization

Sandals Resorts International launched the Sandals Foundation, a philanthropic arm of the company. Sandals Foundation embraces more than 300 outreach projects involving Sandals’ 12 resorts under four brands on five Caribbean islands.

The foundation will “enable us to significantly increase our financial commitment to the people and the communities most in need of our help,” Sandals CEO Adam Stewart said.

The foundation aims to unite the Caribbean region under the common goal of elevating its people and protecting the ecosystem, according to Stewart. By 2011, Sandals hopes to double its financial commitment from the current $11 million per year, he said.

The foundation had its genesis in 1981 when Sandals Chairman Butch Stewart opened the first Sandals resort in Jamaica’s Montego Bay and helped the local community by funding sports teams, buying equipment and fixing up playing fields.

The foundation’s website at www.sandalsfoundation.org will feature a list of projects. Guests can participate in or contribute to these projects while vacationing at a Sandals resort. For example, they can help build the region’s first environmentally certified school in Whitehouse, Jamaica.