Jamaican hospitality groups wants travelers to donate

Jamaican hospitality groups wants travelers to donate
The Courtleigh Hotel Group

Don’t forget your toothbrush, or your donations.

A hospitality group in Jamaica wants you to think beyond your traveling trip essentials if you plan to visit Jamaica this fall. The Courtleigh Hotel Group is inviting its guests to donate useful items for local charities. From now until the end of winter, the organization is asking visitors to not only come with their belongings, but to also come with different types of vital and basic necessities, as part of their participation in the “Pack for A Purpose Initiative.”

The North Carolina-based organization behind the Pack for a Purpose idea, works with various hospitality groups around the world, urging them to encourage tourists who are making short or long stay trips at their lodges, to use additional luggage space to pack helpful supplies, according the group’s director of marketing.

“It’s been several years now that we’ve working with them, and we encourage our visitors who first interact with us either through reservations or social media — if you are coming to any of our locations in Kingston and Montego Bay, pack a little extra so we can donate,” said Nicola Madden-Greig.

She said the visits do not exactly have to be vacations, and there are specific items that they are asking their customers to consider bringing along with them.

“For those coming on business trips, we have a list of items on the website on what they can bring, and we we’ll donate them to charities that we work with,” she added.

A few of the charities that will receive items such as, first aid kits, school supplies and tools, books and stationary items, and personal hygiene products are the Alpha Boys’ Institute, Missionaries of the Poor, Open Arms Development Center, and The Marie Atkins Shelter.

The Courtleigh Hotel Group has three locations in Kingston — The Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, The Knutsford Court Hotel, and The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

Reach reporter Alexandra Simon at (718) 260–8310 or e-mail her at asimon@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @AS1mon.