Philipsburg, St. Maarten – A considerable amount of relief supplies has and continues to arrive at the ash covered island of St. Vincent. For the past month, over 20,000 residents try to cope with La Soufriere’s ceaseless eruptions which has affected water supply and quality, with thousands either in shelters or have been taken in by family members and/or friends. To help with the recovery in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Rotary Club of Sint. Maarten-Mid Isle, The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and Heavenly Water combined donated 12 pallets of water, for a total of 6,600 bottles of water.
The two Rotary clubs partnered with Heavenly Water to procure the pallets of water at a reasonable price. In total, Rotary Sint Maarten-Mid Isle secured 8 pallets, Rotary St. Martin Sunset secured 3 pallets and Heavenly Water graciously donated 1 pallet. This initiative was spearheaded by Rotary Sunset’s Honorary Member Kenrick Housen, who expressed that, “In times like these, it is only right that we look out for our neighbors. This donation will go a long way, but with added donations from the St. Martin population we can assist on a much larger scale to bring relief to the affected persons in St. Vincent”.
With more than 1.2 million members worldwide, Rotarians are on the ground and ready to take action to help communities recover when disasters strike. Here in St. Martin, we know all too well what it is like to be in distress after a disaster, and our Rotarians immediately knew we had to contribute to St. Vincent in their recovery efforts. To ensure that the donation reaches the most vulnerable, the pallets will be collected by President Annette of the Rotary Club of Kingstown, St.Vincent and will be dispersed by members of the Rotary club,” the clubs stated.
The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten-Mid Isle and the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to all Rotarians and friends of Rotary for their kind contribution towards this initiative. The clubs would also like to wish the people of St. Vincent much strength and speedy recovery at this time.
