Sometimes it’s good to state the obvious: Participants in the fifth edition of SXM DOET (see related story) deserve gratitude for their selfless effort on behalf of the community. More than 2,000 persons reportedly gave up their valuable time to assist with a total of 112 social projects of 81 local organisations.
It regards a Kingdom of the Netherlands-wide annual volunteer action supported by the Orange Fund that this year involved a combined 10,000-plus projects tackled by more than 400,000 people. In St. Maarten US $68,065 to cover material and other expenses was divided among 98 local projects, of which $10,000 had also been donated by the just-ended SXM Music Festival.
Just as a comparison, there were about 6,500 participants working on 340 projects in the sixth edition of CuraDoet and 3,600 on 186 projects of ArubaDoet. This means the three Dutch Caribbean countries alone accounted for more than 12,000 volunteers.
It is truly comforting to see that despite much negativity in today’s world so many are still willing to lend a hand to those in need when given the opportunity. They do this to no interest of their own, hoping to help make the lives of vulnerable groups in society a bit better.
In short: hats off to all concerned.
