The wooden marketplace stalls located behind the Courthouse received a much-needed facelift from a group of approximately 80 volunteers over the course of six days.
The project, initiated by the St. Maarten Tourism Board and Be The Change Foundation in collaboration with ArtCraftCafé St. Maarten, was a concerted effort to beautify the vendor stalls with bold, bright, tropical colors donated by Kooyman.
“By beautifying the stalls in such a bold way, we hope that others in the community will feel inspired to also make the necessary changes to show visitors that we are serious about the rebuilding process and to give residents a sense of hope for the future,” said President of the Foundation, Melanie Choisy.
The project was divided into two phases of three days each. On August 1, 2, and 4 the six stalls were sanded, cleaned and primed with a white base coat. Phase two took place in the following week on August 10, 11 and 12 during which time the colors were applied.
The project could not have happened without the assistance of about 80 volunteers, amongst which included members of the St. Maarten Youth Brigade for two days.
Choisy also stated, “So many people would drive or walk by with words of encouragement and support. We even had people offer to buy all the volunteers beverages. It’s always great to feel appreciated.”
The Foundation aims to continue with small beautification projects throughout the rest of the year. To stay up to date, be sure to like their Facebook page: facebook.com/bethechangesxm. They are also looking to collaborate with other organizations and can be reached via email bethechangesxm@gmail.com.