SANDALS Resorts International has been named among a group of private sector companies honoured by the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) for their financial support over the years.

The Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart owned-hotel chain has been given the title Champion of the Environment, and shares the spotlight with CIBC FirstCaribbean, the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, General Accident Insurance Company Ltd, and Total Jamaica.

NEM Insurance Company Ltd and Scotiabank Jamaica have been recognised as Leaders of the Environment; Jamaica Broilers as Protectors of the Environment; and the Cecil Boswell Foundation and Rainforest Seafoods as Supporters of the Environment.

According to JET, champions of the environment are those companies that have donated over $1 million per year in “unrestricted funds”; leaders of the environment give between $500,000 and $999,9999; protectors donate between $250,000 and $499,999; and supporters are awarded for giving between $100,000 and $249,999.

Announcement of the designations — which fall under JET’s fund-raising honour roll programme for 2012 — was made this past Sunday, observed worldwide as Earth Day.

“The Jamaica Environment Trust is pleased to recognise ten private sector companies for their significant and long-standing support of JET and Jamaica’s natural environment,” said JET CEO Diana McCaulay in a release to the press.

“We are coming to the end of our 20th anniversary year and we wanted to say thank you to the institutions that have given generously to JET over the years. As such, we have created our corporate honour roll programme and we are happy to announce this on Earth Day,” she explained.

“Companies that give unrestricted funding to JET are especially valued because such funding can be used in a variety of ways and is an investment in the sustainability of the organisation,” McCaulay said.

In addition to a title, JET’s Corporate honour roll members also have the option to receive additional rewards, dependent on their level of giving.

“We wanted to find a creative way to give something tangible to companies who have given so much to JET, and so we came up with a unique set of rewards,” said Mirah Lim Todd, JET’s development consultant.

The rewards include mention on JET’s website, social media pages and annual donor lists; copies of JET’s audited annual reports; two free symbolic adoptions of a Jamaican animal or region; quarterly updates and stories from JET’s CEO; two free talks on the environment; and a special award reserved for the Champions of the Environment.

JET is targeting donations of J$5M for this year, with a long term goal of raising US$500,000 for the organisation’s sustainability fund.