PHILIPSBURG:--- On October 25, 2020, members of The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and The Sint Maarten Lions Club joined forces in providing over 400 hot meals and 100 food baskets to families in vulnerable communities on the island through Rotary Sunset’s third annual Reach One Feed One (R1F1) feeding program. Also, part of this initiative were members of the Sint Maarten South Leo Club and friends of Rotary Sunset.
R1F1 is a feeding program organized by the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset aimed at providing warm meals to many underprivileged families in vulnerable communities on the island. This year’s event was organized by both organizations in efforts to foster meaningful partnerships among the island’s service clubs, especially in the wake of an unprecedented pandemic that has impacted our most vulnerable communities.
Members of both service clubs prepared the meals and food baskets and traversed through the districts of Dutch Quarter, Middle Region, Sucker Garden, Philipsburg, Pond Island, Cay Hill, Cay Bay, St. James, and Agrément bringing cheer to many residents in our community that is facing economic hardship.
“The month of October marks ‘Economic and Community Development’ month for Rotary clubs worldwide and I am truly overwhelmed that we are able to yet again carry out this project for 3 consecutive years. I am deeply touched by the dedication and commitment from the members of both organizations towards the self-preparation and execution of so many meals and food baskets in a matter of hours. It is always a pleasure to give back to our community in whatever way we can and I hope that in doing so we can bring more awareness to the economic hardships that many of our fellow citizens and residents are faced with daily, especially during this worldwide pandemic,” Rotary Sunset President Elisia stated.
“Lions and Leos serve to improve human flourishing and we see how the global hunger and nutrition crisis bears upon our local community. Hunger is one of the core areas of Lionism and our strategic objective is to ensure that all members of our community have access to nutritious meals. Indeed, it was a great opportunity to joined with other social clubs on the island to bring humanitarian relief to the many residents of Sint Maarten that benefited from the hot meals and food baskets. This initiative has shown that as social clubs we are on the right path where we are able to put the community before self where we are able to have a larger impact on meeting our community needs than if we had done this project as individual clubs,” Lion President Alphons Gumbs stated.
The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and the Sint Maarten Lions Club would like to thank all club members, volunteers, and the Sint Maarten South Leo Club for preparing the meals and food baskets, the St. Dominic Primary School, Divico, Prime Distributors, Kangross Distribution, Mr. Russell Bell, Mr. Mario and Mr. Ricky of Elle Si Belle Tours and Mr. Jerry Flanders of A & J Destination Management Company for providing the transportation to all the districts visited. The clubs would like to encourage the community at large to do their part in assisting where possible, which in turn will improve the island’s economy and community.
