Thank You! Hands Across the Sea Sweepstakes Was a Success

The 2020 Hands Across The Sea Sweepstakes has illustrated what ASA has known all along. Sailors are a generous group and even when faced with a tumultuous year they find a way to help their community.  This year, Hands Across The Sea and ASA teamed up to raise $64,095.22 during the Hands Across The Sea Sweepstakes.  ASA members donated with a chance to win a weeklong charter with Dream Yachts Charter as well as an opportunity to win a luxurious seven-night stay for four (two rooms) at The Verandah Resort & Spa in Antigua or at the St. James’s Club, Morgan Bay, St. Lucia, courtesy of Elite Island Resorts.

These donations help to connect kids in the Caribbean with the literacy tools they both lack and need.  These funds have helped Hands Across The Sea to achieve their goal this year of reaching 508 schools, libraries, and community reading programs. 

How These Donations Help

• Hands Across The Sea has delivered 20,441 new books and reached almost 20,000 incoming students this year. 
• 491 preschools in all six countries have been added to the Hands Across The Sea network of partner schools.
• Hands Across The Sea is working alongside the Early Childhood Education Unit to get reading programs and literacy activity integrated into the preschool day for children ages 3-5. 
• Lending programs have even taken hold in Grenada, where Hands Across The Sea is piloting the program more formally. 
• These resources have also supported the capacity to continue serving children and communities throughout the pandemic. Literacy activities, including reading time and book giveaways, have been a morale boost for children and educators who feel the impact of social distance classrooms. 

Literacy Links

Hands Literacy Links are on-island team members dedicated to making each Hands Wish Lists project a success, now and for years to come. Literacy Links work closely with educators, education ministries, and local communities to: identify schools ready to partner with Hands • help renovate library spaces and cull old and inappropriate books • coordinate the distribution of the Hands shipment • encourage the use of Hands library methodology • help train teachers, librarians, and Student Librarians to care for the books and run the library • sort, level, label, and shelve the new books • implement the strategies of the Hands Teachers Resource Guide to the Library (Grades K-3) to develop the joy of reading and integrate libraries into schools • support school staff to encourage the long term sustainability of their libraries • ensure that Hands donations are properly utilized • assess the impact of Hands assistance.

Find more information on the Hands Across The Sea Website