SIMPSON BAY:--- His Excellency The Governor of Sint Maarten Drs. Eugene Holiday and his cabinet organized its annual King’s Day Celebration in honor of King Willem-Alexanders’ Birthday on April 26th, 2018 at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina. This year’s theme was "Resilience and Service" as a way to pay homage to how far St. Maarten has come since the passing of devastating Hurricane Irma last September.
During the celebration, the K1 Britannia Foundation was presented with an "Award of Appreciation" by His Excellency The Governor of Sint Maarten Drs. Eugene Holiday for its valued contributions towards the post-Hurricane Irma response on St. Maarten.
Since the day of Hurricane Irma on September 6th, 2017, K1 has been busy with immediate, mid and long term relief.
In the weeks immediately following Irma, K1 along with the Dutch Military and Coast Guard held a total of 19 mass and mini distributions through which over 20,000 persons were assisted with food, water and supplies. Once the mass distributions were finished, hundreds of food and water packages with the help of Prime Distributors were made to assist the elderly, soup kitchens and hard hit neighborhoods.
Volunteers also set up multiple shelters by cleaning and sanitizing them as well as managed 4 evacuation shelters for 48 hours prior, during and post Hurricane Maria.
Besides the mass distributions, K1 adopted over 20 local organizations and shelters who help vulnerable groups such as foster children, elderly, sick, mentally ill, at-risk youth, those made homeless through Irma, etc. K1 visited each of these places immediately after Irma to see what was needed as far as supplies, medical help, etc. K1 then consistently supplied each of them with food, water, hygiene and baby supplies, etc. until they were able to get back on their feet — for some places this was from immediately after Irma until the end of January. This help enabled these organizations and institutions to stay functional throughout this difficult period where those they cared for needed their help more than ever. From December to April K1 additionally focused on procuring the material help these institutions needed, as most had suffered damages and needed new equipment, furniture, and other materials. Additionally, six organizations catering to children received construction assistance from K1, done by local youth along with international volunteer contractors. Helping these community organizations was a way to reach some of the most vulnerable in the community.
Needy families also received material help from K1 such as couches, chairs, pillows, sheets, etc.
Targeting the children on the island, over 25 primary, high and afternoon school programs received water, food supplies, hygiene products, high energy biscuits, can liners, etc. for the needy students and the school.
Lack of electricity and food supplies hampered many persons from providing hot meals for themselves in the weeks immediately after Irma. So with the help of a volunteer chef, 400 hot meals were distributed to needy neighborhoods, the elderly, afternoon school programs, foster homes, etc.
K1’s volunteers also assisted in Dominica for several weeks after Hurricane Maria on various fronts of the disaster relief efforts there.
“We are extremely humbled, surprised and grateful for this honor. It's encouraging and gives us the energy to continue preparing for the upcoming hurricane season to be ready to serve the people of St. Maarten and the region” said Chiaira Bowers, Project Manager at the foundation.
K1 Britannia Foundation is soon to announce their long term plans for ongoing disaster relief and preparedness both for St Maarten and the Caribbean region, as after Irma it was decided this needs to remain one of the foundation’s strong focuses.
For more information about K1 Britannia Foundation, visit their website www.k1britanniafoundation.org, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit their Facebook www.facebook.com/k1sxm
