PHILIPSBURG:--- Fifty five families now have materials to rebuilding their Hurricane Irma-damaged roof thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church), which, with the assistance of the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation, donated a combined total of 3,505 roofing panels (zinc sheets), lumber and plywood to residents and their members in St. Maarten last week.
The total number of building materials available were 1,625 zinc sheets; 880 2x4x8 pieces of lumber, 1,000 2x4x16 pieces of lumber and 665 sheets of plywood, both 1/2"and 5/8". Donated to residents were 1,271 zinc sheets; 466 lumber (2x4x8), 637 lumber (2x4x16) and 645 lengths of plywood. A total of 55 families benefitted from the relief of building supplies. Priority was given to senior citizens and single mothers during the distribution process.
The remaining 354 roofing zinc, 414 lumber (2x4x8), 363 lumber (2x4x16) and 20 plywood were donated to the members of Mormon Church, who are in St. Maarten.
The distribution of the relief building supplies was done over the course of four days last week. Some 2x4 lumber remained and these will be distributed to the elderly, poor and needy by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members.
Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung thanked the Mormon Church for their generosity in donation the building materials to residents of the island so that they can help get their lives back together after the devastating natural disaster that hit the island on Wednesday, September 6, 2017. She said the Tzu Chi volunteers were more than happy to assist in the distribution process. She also personally expressed her gratitude to Mormon Church Elder, Sister Fielden, who traveled to St. Maarten from the USA to oversee the distribution of two containers of food (distributed earlier this month) and the four containers of building materials for the community of St. Maarten on behalf of the Mormon Church.
“Tzu Chi deeply appreciates and is grateful to be the back office organizing the requests for aid received from different volunteers. Tzu Chi personally checked and evaluated individual house assessments before the donations were approved,” Cheung said. “Once the recipients were approved, they had to go to the distribution location (Prime Distributors warehouse) to pick up their needed building materials.”
The volunteers from the Mormon Church led by Elder Fielden helped to give out the relief items at the distribution location. The cooperation of the two teams resulted in the successful donation of the items in a record four days.
At the end of the distribution process the Mormon Church thanked the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation for the opportunity to work with them for the distribution of aid to residents. “All of you are caring examples of serving and giving,” the Church said in a message to the foundation. The church also thanked Tzu Chi Foundation for making the distribution of food packages to 609 families in the country earlier this month possible.
Cheung: “We are thankful for the love from the church, the location of Prime Distributors, where the relief supplies were distributed and the efforts of the volunteers from the Church and Tzu Chi, without whose help, this would not have been possible. On behalf of the people of St. Maarten, we are thankful the generosity from the Mormon Church.”
Tzu Chi Foundation Press Release
