At a ceremony held at the White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation, President of the Sint Maarten Lions Club, Lion Linette A. Gibs MJF presented a surprised Mrs. Bregje Boetekees-Van’t Hof with the Citizen of the Year Award in recognition of her extraordinary, exemplary service to the community.
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In making the Presentation, the outgoing President remarked: “This Award is highly justified taking into consideration your outstanding contributions to the general well-being of our island and to the White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation in particular regard to the care of our Seniors. You deserve to be recognized for the beautiful work that you do.”
Mrs. Bregje Boetekees-Van’t Hof, born in Curacao started to work with The White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation 24 years ago as a quality nurse. She was later promoted to the position of Department Manager and then appointed as Operations Manager of the St. Martin’s Home in 2008. In this capacity, together with her team, she was able to develop numerous care products and services in the areas of Elderly care, Psycho Geriatric daycare, Rehabilitation, Guided living at the Sister Basilia Center and as of late, a Hospice.
Just after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mrs. Boetekees -Van’t Hof took on a proactive role in the Management Team to tackle this unwelcome guest. Her primary responsibility was to educate the local population as much as possible and provide the necessary opportunities for persons who desired to be vaccinated. She became a very active and vocal participant in several discussion forums including accepting an invitation to host an information session for the members of the Sint Maarten Lions Club. In consultation and collaboration with Government, she was very instrumental in setting up a Covid vaccination unit within the White and Yellow Cross and has been actively involved during the past two years to ensure the success of this Project.
Well known for her boundless energy and her positivity, Mrs. Boetekees-Van’t Hof takes a keen interest in her team of support staff and maintains an “open door” policy in her work environment. She demonstrated her very strong sense of responsibility after hurricane Irma by taking it upon herself to accommodate and assist those staff members who had been confronted with uninhabitable housing situations. She followed up to ensure that they were assisted with the repair and reconstruction of their homes. Her staff describe her as “a loyal, sincere, empathetic, hardworking lady. She knows all the seniors at the White and Yellow Cross by name.”
In accepting the Award, an elated Mrs. Boetekees-Van’t Hof thanked the Sint Maarten Lions Club for the unexpected honor and continued: “I immensely enjoy what I do. I would not have chosen any other career than this one. I love this island and I love the people. I love what I do. I commend the Sint Maarten Lions Club for the great volunteer work you are doing and the essential role that Service Organizations like yours are playing in our community.”
