Over 50 volunteers from Sandals Foundation and Sandals St. Vincent and the Grenadines wrapped and distributed over 5,000 toys and school supplies to 13 communities and schools across the country.
The initiative, which culminated on Sunday with a Christmas Treat Party for children of the Buccament Bay community, featured an afternoon of games, songs, food, and play.
“Buccament Bay is home to Sandals Saint Vincent, and as such, the resort has proudly adopted the community as part of our extended family. It is our mandate to invest in the wellbeing of our Caribbean families and as such will continue to support the social development of our communities,” Tamon Allen, general manager for Sandals St. Vincent, said.
For 13 years, the Sandals Foundation’s annual toy distribution has been a cherished tradition for communities across the Caribbean, creating memories and joy to last a lifetime. This holiday season, the Sandals Foundation proudly partnered with three leading forces in the US toy industry, Spin Master, Jazwares, and The Toy Foundation™, to deliver 45,000 toys to children across nine Caribbean islands, spreading joy and hope throughout the region.
“The holidays are about hope, the kind that reminds every child that they are seen, valued, and deeply loved,” Heidi Clarke, executive director of the Sandals Foundation, said.
“We are incredibly grateful to our partners SpinMaster, Jazwares, and The Toy Foundation for spreading joy to 45,000 young lives across the Caribbean.”
The distribution benefitted schools and communities on the island include Auntie Helen’s Methodist Preschool, Little Eagles Preschool, Sandy Bay Government School, Barrouallie Government School, Spring Village Methodist School, Salvation Army Children’s home, Children of inmates at the Belle Isle Correctional Facility, Pediatric Ward, Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, SVG Coast Guard, the Community of Paul’s Avenue, the Community of Layou and the Community of Barrouallie.
With all three toy companies stepping into the Caribbean for the first time, children were delighted with puzzles, Rubik’s Cubes, PAW Patrol figurines, plushies and more from Spin Master; building blocks and dinosaur figurines from The Toy Foundation; and Squishmallows plush toys from Jazwares.
Why doesn’t Sandals invest in substantive development that helps the economy, rather than just throwing a few dollars at children’s toys? I say to Sandals, ‘Wheel and come again’—rethink this and do better.”