Philipsburg lit up for the holidays. (File photo)
PHILIPSBURG--The Philipsburg Promotional Board (PPB) is hoping to raise an amount of US $25,000 via crowdfunding platform GoFundMe to help brighten the country’s capital for the upcoming holiday season and inject some cheer in the country, which has been gripped by the effects of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic over the past months.
PPB President Valentin Davis said with the private and public sector hurting financially, PPB decided to go online to secure the funds for the project.
For the last two Christmases, PPB had placed Christmas lighting throughout the country’s capital. The board’s aim has been and still remains to create various attractions that will motivate residents and tourists to frequent down-town Philipsburg, encouraging afternoon shopping traffic in stores, dine in the restaurants and bars and gamble in the casinos, while enhancing the social environment of the capital.
The board feels that the annual project will enhance the festive season and boost the Christmas holiday shopping and help revitalize night life in the capital. The project had been in the planning since 2017.
In 2018, the board solicited funding from the public sector and also directly from 300 businesses throughout town to raise the NAf. 92,414.65 needed to make the Christmas lighting project a reality. Forty businesses donated a total sum of NAf. 26,524 towards the cost of bringing the Christmas lighting to fruition.
PPB was established in 2017 as a non-profit entity, with a board of seven professionals, having as its sole purpose to advocate, motivate and create strategies with the private and public sector for setting the right conditions for economic growth of Philipsburg’s day-time economy and to regenerate its night-time economy, for the benefit and enjoyment of residents and visitors.
PPB has been very active since its inception. In 2018, it established Philipsburg Alive After Five – Christmas Deco Committee – an ongoing project as part of bringing back night life to the island’s capital, which was initiated with partnership of the community to install Christmas decorations to lift up resident’s spirits after hurricane Irma, while creating a festive feeling in growing back its economy.
New funds raised will be used to manage, maintain and install 2020 Christmas decorations. “We’re asking you to support our GoFundMe Philipsburg Christmas Deco Fund, to help liven up everyone impacted by Covid-19 and stimulate our capital’s economy,” Davis said.
Davis said donations in any denominations are welcome and can be as little as US $10,$20 or $25 or as much as one feels comfortable contributing. Persons can make donations to the fund at
https://www.gofundme.com/f/philipsburg-christmas-deco-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-
