Some of the participants in the 8th annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Beach Clean-Up.
SIMPSON BAY--The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta held its eighth annual Beach Clean-Up at Kim Sha Beach last weekend. More than sixty children participated in the event, collecting more than 430 kilogrammes of garbage in the process.
The morning kicked off with a challenge to pick up as much garbage as possible. During the challenge, participants were divided in teams of five. They each had 30 minutes to collect as much garbage as they could find. St. Maarten Nature Foundation provided all participating children with reusable garbage bags and gloves so they could safely collect debris.
After this, Grace Hansen of St. Maarten Nature Foundation gave a short presentation about the problem of plastics and the importance of the island’s beaches. She then held an environmental quiz with the children. The winners received prizes which were donated by toy store Intertoys.
The team that collected the most garbage at the Beach Clean-up consisted of youngsters Kaj, Mathijs, Adriaan and Dax. They received a group prize from Tri-Sport.
LAB Sports Academy held sports activities with the children to close off the morning in a fun way. The youngsters played dodgeball, parkour, tug-of-war and jump rope. “Just before everybody was about to go home, Domino’s Pizza paid a surprise visit and provided all the hungry mouths with some freshly baked pizza,” said organisers in a press release on Wednesday.
“I really enjoyed seeing everyone so excited about the Regatta Beach Clean-Up. The children and volunteers were very enthusiastic and made sure that a lot of garbage was picked up from the beach.
“It is extra important to keep the island clean, not only for the people, but also for the animals of St. Maarten. The annual Beach Clean-Up is a way for the St. Maarten [Heineken – Ed.] Regatta to give something back to the island.
“I would like to thank the children, volunteers and sponsors who made the event into a great success,” said this year’s Regatta Beach Clean-Up Coordinator Merel Abels.
