PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, May 26th, the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset awarded 8 youth groups for their exemplary performance and outstanding contributions to the community through their organization and for exemplifying the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self.” These youth groups have proven to continuously be having a tremendous impact on the lives of our youth.
During the club’s general meeting held at Carl N Sons, Rotarian Tamara Leonard gave a motivational speech titled “The Importance of Being Waves of Change among Youth”. During her speech, she highlighted the different activities these organizations carry out to help motivate the youth. After the speech segment, Club Admin Chair Sabrina Vrutaal and her committee members presented Rotary’s Youth Service Excellence Awards to several organizations on both sides of the island such as Dow’s Musical Foundation, Funtopia Youth Initiative Foundation, National Institute of Arts, Performance Sports Academy, Sint Maarten Football Federation, St. Maarten Youth Parliament, The Vault and Les Explorateurs Scout Association. Each organization received a plaque that read, “In recognition of exemplary leadership and commitment to youth empowerment and developing the next generation of leaders on St. Martin. The members of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset place on record that you stand as a living example of hope for our future, determination, and conscious idealism of Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self”. The awards were presented to the various groups in recognition of Rotary’s Youth Service Month which is highlighted in the month of May.
The Rotary Youth Service Excellence Award aims to recognize outstanding achievements in various youth organizations and to honor the youth in the community for their outstanding contributions to the community through their respective groups. It is also aimed to inspire the youth of the community, to join such organizations and become admirable young leaders in our community.
“The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset felt that life is constantly changing and comes with its own unpredictability. So, motivation is needed to fuel the passion in the youth by recognizing their varying dormant skills, talents, and dreams. These organizations also help create opportunities for the youth and help improve their knowledge of the path they should follow. All of these organizations go above and beyond the call of duty to make the world a better place. I encourage every young person who is not a part of any organization to consider joining any of these youth groups and be the change you wish to see in the world, Club Admin Chair Sabrina Vrutaal stated.
All recipients were present, gave brief remarks, and expressed their profound gratitude to Rotary Sunset for recognizing their continuous efforts. The members of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset would like to congratulate all recipients for their selfless dedication. Rotary Sunset would like to encourage the general public to visit its Facebook page at rotarysxmsunset to read more about the 2023 Youth Service Excellence Award recipients.
