PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – On Wednesday, March 4, 2020, the St. Maarten Chinese Community Foundation donated 140 individual boxes of assorted food stuff to several community Foundations on Sint Maarten who provide assistance to vulnerable persons. These Foundations routinely provide food packages to assist those in our community who need this assistance.
As a proud member of the Sint Maarten community, the St. Maarten Chinese Community Foundation wanted to give back in the best way possible. “We love Sint Maarten and because this is our home, we want to help out however we can. And now it is by helping to provide foodstuff to those that need it the most.” stated Foundation President Johnny Mo.
Because distributing of food donations is not in the day-to-day operations of the St. Maarten Chinese Community Foundation, the board reached out to Emil Lee as former Minister of VSA who had the network to organize this donation. He contacted workers within the Department of Community Development, Family and Humanitarian Affairs (CDFHA) of the Ministry of VSA to assist. This department has extensive networks of relationships with Non-profit organizations and foundations that provide assistance to the vulnerable within the community.
According to Emil Lee, “CDFHA is one of the most instrumental departments within Government and they provide “boots on the ground” assistance to the Community.”
After being notified, CDFHA came up with a plan for distribution in order to spread the donation to those most in need. They settled on the 8 following organizations plus some of Social Services & CDFHA’s clients. The Foundations that received the donation are: The Methodist Church (Cole Bay & Philipsburg), Meals on Wheels, Belvedere Community Center,
Christian Faith Ministry, Bible Baptist Church, South Reward Community Collective and the Seventh day Adventist Church (Cole Bay). All the Foundations expressed appreciation when they received this donation to better assist the vulnerable in the community.
The St. Maarten Chinese Community Foundation would like to thank the Foundations for continuing to provide assistance to the community of Sint Maarten. “We need to continue to work together to make Sint Maarten better”, stated Foundation Secretary Kenneth Wong.
