The common theme for my Summer updates has been “don’t check bags!”, so why did I break my own rule?
Last week I vacationed with my family in Jamaica. The first thing I do after booking any vacation is to look at the Pack for a Purpose website to see if there are needs for the area we will be visiting. Through the site I was able to see that Beaches Ocho Rios supports 5 different projects, 4 are local schools and the final is a local Women’s Center. I sat down with my daughter and we went through the needs of each. We decided that we would take supplies requested by the Women’s Center as well as one of the schools serving over 425 children ages 6 – 11. Once we were settled at the resort, we simply delivered the supplies, along with a note, to the sales manager. She will distribute them as needed to the projects we supported.
I met Pack for a Purpose founder, Rebecca at a conference over 10 years ago. We have been encouraging our clients to participate ever since. It is one of the core values of our Vacation for Good program at Slaydon’s Travel. She explained the vision for the program as a “hostess gift” saying that you wouldn’t visit a friend on vacation without taking a gift and by packing just 5 pounds of much needed supplies when you vacation can be viewed the same way.
The Pack for a Purpose philosophy, as listed on their website:
“There is need everywhere in the world; however, it is sometimes difficult to identify specific needs in places far from home. We believe many people fortunate enough to travel wish they could make meaningful contributions to help meet the needs of the places they visit. Such contributions are one way of expressing appreciation for the experiences and hospitality they enjoyed.
Our goal is to assist travelers who want to say thank you in this manner or who simply want to expand their generosity beyond their own communities. The supply lists for destinations on our website are provided directly by the local community-based projects that receive and use the supplies, enabling travelers to make informed decisions and to take items that meet the needs of those who will be using them.”
If this is the type of travel you are interested in, or would like to find out more ways to Vacation For Good, sign up here: