February 3rd, 2018 - Next week, a crew of volunteers from ShadeScapes Americas will head to St. John in the US Virgin Islands with a unique gift – the gift of shade. The ShadeScapes team will be installing 50 elegant, long-lasting umbrellas at 22 locations on the island, comprised of restaurants and schools that suffered devastating damage during Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The people of St. John have shown incredible resilience during this time of rebuilding and Jo Moniak Edmondson, Founder and CEO of ShadeScapes Americas, wanted her company to contribute to the recovery. Moniak Edmondson has owned a home on the island since the late 80s and feels a strong connection to the people who make St. John such a special community, and she’s not the only one. St. John has a huge community of support stateside and as the St. John Shade Project was formed, stories of people with ties to both Colorado and St. John emerged.
Rebuilding After Hurricanes Irma and Maria
“While it might not be obvious on the surface, the communities of St. John and the North Fork Valley have a lot of similarities,” says Jo Moniak Edmondson, “Both places enjoy a casual lifestyle and are fueled by the passions and hard work of small businesses. We all care deeply about our communities and are there to support one another through the good and the bad. When we started hearing from other Coloradans who love both places, it really brought to light the impact that travel makes on people and affirmed that giving has no boundaries.”
ShadeScapes Americas is bringing 50 umbrellas to island restaurants and schools. Originally, the company committed to donating 30, but found the need to be much greater and decided to cover the cost of bringing more umbrellas by donating 25% of the company’s outlet sales back to the project. ShadeScapes is handling all the logistics of getting the donation to the island, has recruited volunteers from both St. John and Colorado, and will install all of the umbrellas during the week of Valentine’s Day. A list of some of the recipients can be seen HERE.
How does the St. John Shade project work?
- ShadeScapes Americas’ staff and volunteers will be on the island from February 6-18, 2018 to install the donated umbrellas at local restaurants and schools. ShadeScapes founder and CEO, Jo Moniak Edmondson, visited the island in December to identify recipients. Since then she has been working remotely to collect specific needs and measurements for each of the 22 locations.
- A portion of proceeds from ShadeScapes sales are going toward the project: 25% of purchases made on the Gift of Shade Outlet, and for the month of February, in honor of Valentine’s Day and ‘Love City’, as St. John is known by many, ShadeScapes Americas is donating 5% of profits from www.shadescapesamericas.com back to the project.
- Stories of the recipient businesses, partners and volunteers are being told on the Gift of Shade website and shared on social media.
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