PHILIPSBURG– The St Maarten Sea Rescue Foundation (SSRF) received a substantial donation from the St Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA). The handover of the check was held at the St Maarten Yacht Club in Simpson Bay. Representatives of both organizations were in attendance.Due to the tightening of the financial environment for most businesses and private persons on St Maarten over the course of this year, the SSRF was experiencing a short fall in donations to meet its operating budget.
This lack of donations coupled with the need for technical repairs on Rescue 02 - the SSRF's main Search and Rescue vessel, was placing operational availability in jeopardy.
According to Serge Bakker, secretary of the SSRF – "the operational cost of the SSRF are generally around $15,000 yearly. These funds are generated through donations from generous sponsors, however this year sponsors have not been able to cover all of our costs. Our regular sponsors in general donated to the Haiti Relief funds, a very noble and much needed cause without question, but this had some negative impact on donations presented to the SSRF because this depleted donation budgets at the beginning of this year". With
the financial availability for the SSRF dropping to a very low level the SSRF requested help from the SMMTA.
The SMMTA immediately responded with financial aid to this valuable organization. St. Maarten Sea Rescue provides emergency search and rescue operations for vessels in distress in the territorial waters of St. Maarten. They come to the aid of all size vessels local and visiting, commercial and private; often in life threatening situations, the Sea Rescue foundation is operating completely on a volunteer basis.
The membership of the SMMTA is comprised of companies that are focused on providing, products, support and services to the marine sector. The foundation's charter is to promote the island to visiting sailors and vessels of all sizes, as a destination for pleasure sailing, supplies and quality skilled workmanship.
The president of the SMTMA, Kass Johnson-Halliday, described the Board's decision on the request of SSRF:
"The board of the SMMTA quickly concluded that the services offered by the rescue volunteers is invaluable to local and visiting yachtsmen and therefore we unanimously agreed to come to the financial aid of the SSRF. The St Maarten Sea Rescue Foundation and its volunteers are a vital part to our community and safety at sea. It was not an option to not support their cause". Rescue board members Jan Drost and Serge Bakker were available to receive the undisclosed donation from the SMMTA Board and urged other businesses to follow the SMMTA example. "Offering life saving services on the sea can only be done by the tireless effort of our volunteers and through financial assistance from the
general public". The donation received will be used to cover the cost of the repairs on Rescue 02 so that she can return to fully operational status, helping people in need of assistance once again.
More information about the SMMTA can be found at www.smmta.com; about The Sea Rescue Foundation on www.sxmsearescue.org and on their Facebook page. Questions about the SSRF can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
