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Activities, Caribbean, Divi Flamingo, Resorts, To Do

Divi Flamingo’s Adopted Sea Turtle Nest on Bonaire!

As a 2016 sponsor of Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire’s Adopt a Sea Turtle program, the money donated by Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino will help STCB to protect a specific nest’s eggs from drowning if water floods the nest area, and to help release any newborn turtles that become trapped underground during hatching. The donation will also support the popular Beechkeepers Program, a volunteer network that works with STCB to collect information about the status of Bonaire’s sea turtle populations, so that nests can be protected more efficiently in the future. In 2015, seven STCB sponsored nests helped 693 baby hatchlings make it to sea safely.

Bonaire is home to three of the world’s six species of endangered or critically endangered sea turtles; green turtles, hawksbill turtles and loggerhead turtles. Bonaire’s beaches receive an annual average of 75 nests. For detailed information about the 2016 sea turtle nesting season on Bonaire, visit the STCB website’s nest monitoring page at http://www.bonaireturtles.org/wp/what-we-do/nest-monitoring/.

divi, Divi Little Bay, St. Maarten

Divi Cares! Divi Resorts Has Teamed Up with OneWorld Sustainable to Benefit a School in Need

Solar Donated to School

Divi Resorts has recently made a philanthropic donation that combines our commitment to protecting the environment with our passion for community service. Together with OneWorld Sustainable, a renewable energy company, we have donated solar panels and equipment to I Too Can Learn, a school for children with learning disabilities on the island of St. Maarten. This donation was given as part of our company-wide Divi Cares program and will help the school substantially reduce its operational expenses.

Marco Galaverna, Divi’s President and COO, was introduced to this opportunity by Tim Blackwell, President and CEO of OneWorld Sustainable. Marco and Tim worked together in the summer of 2015, when Divi Resorts purchased a solar electricity system from OneWorld Sustainable for Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. Read more about Little Bay’s new system.

After the installation was completed at the resort, Tim approached Marco with the suggestion that Divi Resorts consider donating solar panels and other equipment to a local St. Maarten school in need, to which Marco whole-heartedly agreed. I Too Can Learn was selected as the recipient because of its inspiring mission and because of the ongoing financial challenges it faces.

Since 2013, I Too Can Learn has been catering to the learning needs of children with autism, Down syndrome and other learning disabilities, aiming to break the barriers these students face. The school’s director, Beverley Gibbs, is dedicated to serving her students, but she is open about the difficulties she faces in keeping the school operational due to its very limited funding. For this reason, Beverley was thrilled to accept Divi Resorts’ solar panel donation, which will help reduce the school’s electricity bill each month.

Divi Resorts donated the solar panels as part of our company-wide Divi Cares program, which encompasses community outreach as part of our Divi Impact initiative and environmental protection and preservation as part of our Divi Green initiative. “We were very happy to be able to help I Too Can Learn through the donation of these solar panels,” explains Marco. “This school is a great asset to the community on St. Maarten, and our company is proud to support their cause. We are always looking for new ways to give back through our Divi Cares program, and we’re very grateful to the team at OneWorld Sustainable for introducing us to this exciting opportunity. We wish I Too Can Learn much success for years to come.”