Sandals Foundation Reaches Out to St. Lucia    Observer Following its launch in Jamaica a year ago, the Sandals Foundation has now been expanded to the eastern Caribbean island of St Lucia, with a pledge to aggressively tackle the many social problems affecting the region. In making that commitment, Adam Stewart, president of the Board of Directors, told a black-tie gala dinner attended by Prime Minister Stephenson King, that social issues such as poverty and crime were everywhere in the region, and he called on people of influence, power and wealth to use their position to help alleviate some of the region's troubles. "Governments alone cannot do everything in a region with very limited resources. We as business people need to play our part and give back to this wonderful region that has been good to all of us," he said. "It requires a collective effort and the role of every single Caribbean man is important," added Stewart, who is also CEO of Sandals Resorts International. The launch of the Sandals Foundation was also used as an opportunity to raise funds for the Children's Literacy Action Project (CLAP), a foundation that targets chil- dren in poverty-stricken, crime-riddled, and inner-city areas in that Caribbean island. CLAP's President Virgil Leonty, a former newspaper and radio journalist, also addressed the fund-raising event that raised US$26,000, which will go directly to the Foundation's purchase of a community centre in Marchand Boulevard where the CLAP programme will reside. "A lot of these children are without a parent because their father is either in jail or shot as a result of gang war or the traf- ficking of narcotics," Leonty lamented. "It is not acceptable that children are not going to school because they cannot af- ford it. It is not their fault and we need to give them a chance," she told the gather- ing, which was also attended by leading businessmen and politicians. She said she was very grateful for the contributions of the Sandals Foundation, noting: "Our relationship with Sandals Resorts International started some five years ago when the Children Literacy Action Programme commenced by reading to children on the streets of Marchand Boulevard. It started very modestly but because of the obvious need of the com- munity, we expanded now to approxi- mately 60 children." Supporting Stewart's call, Prime Minister King appealed for more compassion and love from the Caribbean's most influen- tial people, arguing that the wealthy and powerful in the region couldn't continue to ignore the poor and distressed. In pledging his government's support for the efforts of the Sandals Foundation, the St Lucian leader said: "It is only by showing compassion and love that we will be able to solve some of the social challenges of the island. Sometimes, the wider community is better placed than politicians to solve problems like crime and poverty. Children are at risk in impoverished communities all around us and we must come together to give them a helping hand." The Sandals Foundation, the philanthrop- ic arm of Sandals Resorts International, is dedicated to playing a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where the hotel chain operates across the Carib- bean, by funding projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment.