The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation raised US $1,020 for victims of the devastating earthquakes in Nepal during a donation drive at Le Grand Marche Supermarket on Saturday, May 16, 2015.
The 15 grateful volunteers who participated in the exercise held Tzu Chi’s recycled donation boxes, signs and flyers with a message that St. Maarten can send love to Nepal earthquake victims from the kind acts of our population.
The volunteers urged shoppers to spare whatever they could afford to help Nepal victims.
Shoppers who assisted deposited their donations into Tzu Chi’s recycled donation boxes and volunteers bowed graciously in accepting each donation.
By the end of the exercise, which ran from around 5:30pm to 8:00pm, shoppers and supporters had given a total US $1,020.
Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung expressed her deepest gratitude to Le Grand Marche executive Danny Ramchandani for granting Tzu Chi permission to hold the donation drive outside his establishment.
On behalf of all volunteers, she also thanked the public for their generosity to help those hurting in Nepal. She said volunteers were extremely grateful for the opportunity to help send love to Nepal from St. Maarten, thanks to their donations.
“Although Nepal is far from us and we do not know the people who are affected, Tzu Chi founder Master Cheng Yen teaches us that there is only one Earth that we all live on. We are all grounded on the same land and shelter under the same sky and in fact we are all one big family on Earth and it is important to help our family members when they are in need,” Cheung said in a press release on Thursday.
She said some persons asked volunteers why St. Maarten needed to help Nepal since they never assisted us here in St. Maarten. In responding to these questions she said “Tzu Chi thinks that while receiving is blessing, giving is an even greater blessing. Nepal is receiving a blessing because it is suffering from earthquakes and St. Maarten is giving to continue being a blessed island. Giving without expectation will be rewarded with boundless blessing for the island and joy of giving for each individual.”
The two earthquakes that affected Nepal have cumulatively caused 8,462 deaths and have left approximately 20,000 persons injured.
Tzu Chi International volunteers continue to donate to affected victims. On May 14, Tzu Chi donated Jing Si rice, red beans, salt and other supplies to an association for military families, who then delivered the goods to 1,000 families in the Gorkha district. International volunteers are also assisting in three major initiatives: health centres, camp areas and clinics. In the villages of Maheswori and Chitapol, 461 patients have been treated and both medicines and anti-mosquito materials have been distributed to school children.
Tzu Chi St. Maarten’s fundraising drive will continue until June 15, 2015 and 100 per cent of the donations received will be used for the victims. “Your contribution toward to this relief is highly appreciated,” Cheung said.
Persons can place their donations on Tzu Chi’s relief account at Windward Islands Bank at WIB #21932201.
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