School visits

My wife and i have a piece of luggage filled with lots and lots of school supplies to take. Unfortunately we will be there when schools may be on Easter Break! We are in Negril 23-29th. Can anyone help?? We can leave them but prefer to take them ourselves. Anyone know the Easter school schedule? I am going to try and call the schools and some drivers.

Tried Gail. She mentioned Mt Airy was likely off for break. Didnt mention any others.

I would suggest you take what you can; you may be amazed. We sent a soccer ball (with a pump) and the school was thrilled that they now had a soccer ball! Deflate it, get a pump and pins at a buck store and you have made the days of a bunch of kids!). Big skipping ropes will keep the kids hopping too, weigh little take little room. (Walmart here has some you can get for a $1 for the short ones and $2 for the long ones right now ....) For supplies, be basic (a box of crayola crayons costs an incredible amount of money there - I heard more than USD 10.00 - so anything like that you take, give it to the principal or a trusted teacher and they will find a discreet home for it. Pencils, erasers, crayons, rulers; calculators (solar powered - batteries are very dear on the island). Teaching aids too - as simple as chalk! There is an organization that is linked to several hotels and I can't remember for the life of me the name of it. White Sands is part of it and several others. They each have a different school, and post a list of current needs. Somebody on this board knows the name of that organization - maybe White Sands can help you. Any of the involved hotels will take your donations, even if you aren't staying there. A Smile for a Child? No, that isn't it. But something like that. As well, again, St. Anthony's outfits aver 35 kids for school - shoes, sox, underwear, back packs, paper, pencils - nothing is too small. They would be happy to distribute your stuff. I know you will find somewhere.

And bless your heart for doing this! It makes me so happy to see us tourists giving back to the island that has given us so much joy!

Father Jim from the St Anthony Kitchen is a regular poster here and I will let him know about this - he may be able to help you out while you are here!

And as M&G has already stated - thank you so much!

Thanks for all the good info. Nice to give back when you can. The smiles you receive in return are priceless. I have also heard Sharon at Sunset at the Palms can help. I will let everyone know what I find out.

I appreciate your help Rob! I will make a note of Father Jim at St Anthony.

Regarding school visits...any school will welcome supplies of any kind. Through St. Anthony's Kitchen we sponsor 38 children; most going to two elementary schools and several to various high schools. My suggestion would be to contact Ken Cooney, President of the local Rotary Club. They are involved with a variety of schools in the area and Ken is knowledgable about the school and their needs. His email is ken.cooney@yahoo.com.

I also noticed a thread about serving breakfast at St. Anthony's Kitchen. We serve breakfast to 40 children each morning between 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Too early, come help serve lunch to adults from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. Breakfast and lunch are served Monday through Friday. --Fr. Jim