CABOT Saint Lucia has just launched its major community initiative – Cabot Cares – which promises to bring positive change to key areas of Saint Lucian society, with a specific focus on women and youth.
Cabot Cares is Cabot Saint Lucia’s corporate social responsibility programme – an initiative aimed at supporting and developing communities in Saint Lucia.
The Cabot Cares launch event brought together persons from a wide cross-section of the country including statutory corporations, corporate Saint Lucia, civil society and Cabot’s leadership team.
Cabot Saint Lucia’s CEO Kristine Thompson has been spearheading this initiative locally and sees Cabot Cares as a powerful agent for improving lives in a way that is both significant and sustainable.
“It is with immense pleasure that Cabot Saint Lucia launches Cabot Cares. Part of our ethos at Cabot is about giving back to the community. This is more than just monetary donations, and includes long-term partnerships that engage at a personal level to support and ensure that all resources are carefully managed and that the final objective is met. We will be providing a combination of monetary and human resource support to the organizations we are working with, as well as creating an ecosystem where we develop their skills with a view to employing them or engaging their services as private contractors” – Kristine Thompson – CEO, Cabot Saint Lucia
An independent committee made up of Saint Lucians from diverse backgrounds is being set up and will oversee Cabot Cares and assist in identifying and adopting the various causes for support. Two of the members of the Committee are Debra Tobierre, a former Senator, businesswoman and developer from the South of the island and Anya Edwin, the President of the National Youth Council and Chairperson of the National Community Foundation.
“As a business person myself, I am well acquainted with the concept of giving back to the community and how we cannot expect to do well without doing good. When I was approached by Cabot, I was curious. After meeting the committee members and the leadership at Cabot, I immediately connected with the initiative and vision of Cabot Cares and what it promises to do for women and youth. I also wanted to ensure that the southern region of the country where I am based is also well represented.”- Debra Tobierre, Cabot Cares Advisory Committee Member
“Cabot could not have chosen a better time to launch Cabot Cares. It comes when we are seeing the devastating effects the pandemic has had on our youth, and single women in particular. As someone who’s life is dedicated to the upliftment of the youth and empowerment of women through my substantive job and association with several charitable and youth organizations, it was easy for me to accept the invitation to be part of the Advisory Committee. A major investor and developer like Cabot can certainly help address many of the economic and psycho-social issues facing our communities today.” – Anya Edwin, Cabot Cares Advisory Committee Member
Discussions are advancing between Cabot Cares and The Centre for Adolescent and Renewal Education (Care) as well as The Hospitality Institute at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College. The aim will be to transform these two entities through a partnership that includes both financial and human resource support.
“Cabot Cares is, for CARE, a match made in heaven. Cabot has been in discussions with us in developing and executing a plan that will see these adolescents at our institute get a new lease on life. We look forward to the partnership and their investment in the areas of training and the access to job opportunities or the purchase of services offered by these youth. At CARE, we believe that self-development is a key that will unlock a lifetime of success and transform the lives of our youth that are at risk. This partnership promises that kind of outcome.” – Dr Carlene Mason, Executive Director
“Cabot’s commitment to work with the Hospitality Unit of the College is something we are excited about and greatly welcome. We are the highest institution of hospitality training in a country whose main industry is Tourism but we see a great need to enhance and expand the programmes we offer; improve the facilities; attract more young persons to enroll for the courses and then to have them employed in the industry. Cabot will assist in all these areas, so we look forward to continuing the productive discussions already taking place as we see these plans come to fruition.” – Tanya Warner, Head of the Hospitality Unit at Sir Artur Lewis Community College.
Cabot’s Canadian property has a similar CSR program in Nova Scotia, where it has made significant improvements in that community with major gains in education and rural development. Cabot Chairman, Ben Cowan-Dewar, says that this is his vision for Saint Lucia and that meaningful community reinvestment is part of Cabot’s culture.“Six years ago, I set out on a mission to find an island in the Caribbean where we could invest through the development of our second Golf Resort and Residential Community. We chose Saint Lucia because of the beauty of the island and its people. From the onset, we knew that our investment in the community would be one of our most major contributions, not just through jobs which is significant, but also being an active partner, bringing positive change to the lives of the people in the community in which we operate. Cabot Cares is one step on that journey. We are here to stay and remain committed to our community over the long term.” – Ben Cowan-Dewar, Cabot Chairman
