Island Challenge participants plant 300 trees in Hurricane Melissa recovery push

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Participants in the Sandals Foundation Island Challenge traded running shoes and kayaks for rugged trails and seedlings on Saturday, as day two of the four-day endurance event combined physical exertion with efforts to help restore Jamaica’s forests following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last year.

The day began with participants climbing the world-famous Dunn’s River Falls here before heading to the Bogue Forest Reserve, also in the parish, for a rainforest trek and tree-planting exercise. According to Sandals Foundation Public Relations Manager Patrice Gilpin, the demanding activities are ultimately tied to a greater purpose.

“They are doing it all for a good cause. There is no better way to connect tourism, health, doing good, and philanthropy,” Gilpin said. The Sandals Foundation Island Challenge, being held in Jamaica for the first time, aims to raise £100,000 to strengthen neonatal and paediatric health-care services at Falmouth Public General Hospital in Trelawny.