K1, Coast Guard and business community collaborate | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – K1 Britannia Foundation in collaboration with Colosseum, Arena Base Café, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard and Kooyman
constructed a newly shaded area for the children at Player Development SXM (PD).
The project was initiated by Coast Guard Officer and K1 Program Manager Alan Schet who felt that it was important because of the work of Coach Tom of Player Development.

Player Development (PD) is a committee under the Little League Baseball Association that aims to provide a safe and fun learning environment outside school hours for kids in need led by Tom Burnett, better known as Coach Tom. Coach Tom focuses his efforts to teach children basic life lessons while coaching them through education and sports. After Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, it inflicted a great deal of damage to their facilities. Coach Tom was donated a container where he later used tarps to construct temporary shaded area. Most of the children suffered loss of houses, amongst many others in the community, and efforts were focused on making sure that the children’s home were rebuilt first.

The months after Irma, K1 worked closely with Player Development to provide them with material and volunteer support as they opened back and continued to provide an area for the children to learn and grow. Alan reflected about those times, stating “ I took notice of the children sitting under a tarp, and I felt really uncomfortable with knowing that they had to learn under those conditions, and I wanted to make an appropriately constructed shaded area a reality, and together, we did.”

Alan Schet along with Thomas Koolen, Mario Tracey and Arjen Vliegen decided to gather volunteers through the Coast Guard and opened the activity to public, where Kooyman participated. In total 25 persons volunteered in this construction project.

Over the course of two days, the process included brightening up the area with drawings of flowers and garden, planting of flowers, paintings of the benches, building a new shaded area with zinc, and the installation of windows for one of the containers used for educational purposes. Evencia Carty, Kooyman Commercial Officer, stated, “We decided to partner and assist with this project because they were in need of labor and materials, and Kooyman was ready to provide both. We have worked with K1 previously, but were not aware of Player Development. Immediately after finding out who Coach Tom was, our volunteer group doubled. We would like to thank Coach Tom for guiding these wonderful kids. Working together with K1 and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard was a great experience for Kooyman and we were very happy to see the smiles on the children’s faces.”

Thomas Koolen, lead volunteer and Coast Guard Officer mentioned, “Helping others and volunteering means a lot to me and I believe that we are in this world to help each other. After assisting with this project and seeing the kids happy with their new place was the biggest reward I got. I hope with the new roof the kids and Coach Tom could be more comfortable and succeeding in all the great projects they do.”

Coach Tom stated, “The children are much happier, and we can spend more time on what needs to get done. I also don’t have to put the tarp up, and take it down everyday, and the area looks much more like a pleasant area for the children to spend their time. The children immediately feel the difference and we are grateful to the many persons who played a part in making this happen.”

Multiple companies who value giving back to the community made the finished project possible. The main sponsors where Colosseum and Arena Base Café with support of material help of Kooyman and SBS.

For more information about the K1 Britannia Foundation or to sign up as a volunteer visit www.k1britanniafoundation.org, www.facebook.com/K1SXM, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Source: Souliga Newsday https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php/local/soualiga-newsday-top-stories/item/26084-k1,-coast-guard-and-business-community-collaborate.html