USD 5,000 donated to children of late Mrs. Edith Richardson to adopt classroom in her name in Keep a Cool Head Project
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Keep a Cool Head project, a joint effort of Baker Tilly, Milton Peters College and SVOBE to fund air-conditioning for MPC classrooms still in lack thereof, just got their sixth classroom adopted. Project manager Erik van Engelen (Baker Tilly) was approached by an anonymous donor who wanted to sponsor climate control through a so-called ‘hero’; somebody related to MPC that is a great role model for the students. The sixth newly airconditioned classroom will be named after the late Mrs. Edith Richardson-Gabriel, a beloved mother, wife and teacher at MPC.
Mrs. Richardson impacted her students’ lives in various ways. She was the founder of the school breakfast program, that she organized up to her sudden passing in 2017. Her children, Leonardo, Denzel and Nympha are honored and happy to be reminded of their mother in this manner. “It is great to see how my mother impacted so many people and I am very pleased that we can honor her with a classroom in her name,” Denzel Richardson said.
The anonymous donor is content to have found a ‘spotlight person’. As he is leaving Sint Maarten, he will revert to the initiative in his goodbye speech in November. His request to the project team was “to find a good person from St. Maarten with a heart for the children but unable to sponsor USD 5,000, who could carry the sponsorship on behalf of an unknown donor.”
To honor the sponsor, but mostly to inspire students, the sponsor’s (corporate) resume will be hung on the wall of the adopted classroom. The project team’s advertising, marketing and printing agent, Titia van der Mark of Livvitt, is also sponsoring the project. Former MPC student Van der Mark: “I really want Livvitt to help with the Keep a Cool Head project. Livvitt is also incorporating a foundation to help the Island with upcoming projects. Any signage or resumes to be hung on the wall, we will sponsor up to the USD 5,000 in kind.”
Photo caption: Children of late Mrs. Edith Richardson hand over USD 5,000 cheque to MPC
students in former Mrs. Richardson classroom (MPC 2C)
(From left to right: Nympha Richardson (daughter of Mrs. Richardson), Leonardo Richardson (son of Mrs. Richardson), Leonardo Jr.
Richardson (grandson of Mrs. Richardson), Chante Webster (Baker Tilly), Shendricia Daal (MPC student), Erik van Engelen (Baker
Tilly), Renard Brison (MPC student) and Femke Neunzig (Project team member and teacher at MPC). Not on the picture because in
the Netherlands: Denzel Richardson (son of Mrs. Richardson).
