The Sandals Foundation partnered with the Goal-den Sisterhood group last Saturday to give school supplies to hundreds of kids from the Yellow Elder area.

This was the Goal-den Sisterhood’s first-ever project, and the Sandals Foundation joined forces to help them make the event a huge success.

One of the group’s founders, Shavonia Higgs, said the Sandals Foundation’s extra school supplies enabled the drive to assist “even more children than we expected”. “The help of the Sandals Foundation meant a lot because it feels good to know that other people out there wanted to help out, even though they knew nothing about our group,” said Ms Higgs. “We were so thankful they reached out to us.”

She said her inspiration to form a philanthropic group and hold a back to school drive came to her in the wee hours of the morning.

“I just woke up and decided I need to give back to the community somehow,” she said. “I thought of how many children need help with school supplies, so I immediately went to my group of friends and told them about the idea and right away they were on board.”

The Sandals Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International, collects school supplies brought by guests, through an initiative called ‘Pack for a Purpose’. The supplies go towards helping children in varying communities who could not otherwise afford certain supplies for school. Those supplies have also helped, Gambier Primary and The Centre for the Deaf, in the past.

“The Sandals Foundation is appreciative of the many guests and groups who care for the kids in the communities of the Bahamas by donating school supplies,” said Sandals Royal Bahamian Public Relations Manager, Chester Robards. “We look for opportunities to help where we can. But, to help a small group of women who want to do what we, through the Foundation, have already been doing, was a special treat. I hope to see them grow and help many more people.”

Ms. Higgs said she was overwhelmed by the amount of people who came to the back-to-school drive. The drive included prizes and a short talk on fire safety conducted by Airport fireman Neko Davis.

The Goal-den Sisterhood and Sandals Foundation share a similar, simple ethos - to help where and when they can.

“A lot of kids don’t have anything to start with,” said Ms. Higgs. “We were familiar with people in the Yellow Elder area, and witnessing their shortcomings made us eager to start with them.”