PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotary Clubs of Sint Maarten, along with various local and international donors collaborated to provide 156 standing fans to seven primary schools located on the Dutch side of the Sint Maarten. The project titled “Beat the Heat”, came about after the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset conducted an assessment at various schools to address the heat issue in the classrooms. All of the Dutch Side Sint Maarten Rotary Clubs participated in the project including the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten- Mid Isle, The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunrise and the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten to distribute fans to unairconditioned classrooms.
The schools that benefited from this initiative were the MAC Browlia Maillard Campus, MAC John A. Gumbs Campus, Ruby Labega Primary School, Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School, Oranje School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School and Prins Willem Alexander School. All school managers were present at the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten’s clubhouse in Belair to accept the much-needed fans.
“The heat issue has been an ongoing challenge in the schools without air conditioning. Students learn most effectively in a clean, well provisioned, and temperature-controlled environment. While air-conditioned classrooms are the ultimate goal for all Dutch side classrooms, such an investment takes time and planning to safely install air conditioning in many of our older school buildings. To effectuate an almost immediate change, the four Rotary Clubs located on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten have come together to provide standing fans to those unairconditioned classrooms. “On behalf of all of the participating organizations, we would sincerely like to thank Talk Cell for providing us with the fans and a special thank you goes out to all the donors, both locally and internationally”, stated Kimberley Duzong, President of the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, speaking on behalf of all the participating Club Presidents.
St. Maarten/St. Martin is fortunate to have 5 Rotary Clubs on the island. About the Rotary Clubs of St. Maarten/St. Martin. The Rotary Club of St. Maarten was chartered on March 17, 1972 as result of a September 1970 meeting to form a club on the island. Since its formation, the Rotary Club of St. Maarten has grown in membership and has assisted in the formation of new clubs in the District, including Anguilla (1978), Saint-Martin Nord (1988), Sint Maarten-Mid Isle (1997) and St. Martin Sunrise (2004). In 2018, the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset was chartered on September 30, 2018. For more information on the Clubs, visit www.rotary.org.
The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month at Carl N Sons Unique Inn and Conference Facilities in Colebay at 7:30 p.m. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via the official Facebook page at facebook.com/rotarysxmsunset.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten Mid-Isle meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at Melange Restaurant at Port de Plaisance in Cole Bay at 7 p.m. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or online at www.rotarysxm-mi.org.
The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunrise meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 a.m. at Carl & Sons Unique Cafe in Philipsburg and every third Wednesday of the month online at 7 p.m. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Rotary Club of St. Martin Nord meets on the first and third Thursday of the month at Grand Saint-Martin at 8 p.m.
The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at the Rotary Clubhouse located just outside the Belair Beach Hotel at 12:15 p.m. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or online at www.rotarysxm.com.
