St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - Serious fundraiser of US$75,000

Project Coordinators from K1 Britannia Foundation in front of their tent at the Regatta Village © St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

It's been more than a month since the world-class sailing and music event, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta took over the island of St. Maarten. The 38th edition of this annual event was dedicated to raise funds for hurricane relief projects around the island.

The organizers of the Regatta decided to work together with multiple foundations on the island and raise funds for the various projects supporting island residents in rebuilding their lives after Hurricane Irma devastated the island in September 2017.

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta's motto "Serious Fun" sure came to life; with no less than 100 boats competing out on the water and with the newly introduced Regatta Village, the sailors and regatta visitors had a permanent base for an entire week to enjoy some great local food, drinks and live entertainment. In addition, the concert venue offered four nights of high energy shows with performances by world-class artists like Shaggy, Onyan and 3 Cylinder Band the Queen of Bacchanal, Destra Garcia and Orange Grove.

Serious Fun was turned into a Serious Fundraiser, with all kinds of fundraising initiatives taking place during the Regatta. Regatta organizers partnered with K1 Britannia Foundation, the Nature Foundation, the St. Maarten Sea Rescue Foundation and the St. Maarten Yacht Club Regatta Foundation, who were all well-represented during the regatta with their activities and projects.

Regatta Organizers were overwhelmed by the support from everyone that visited the Regatta and are excited to announce that a total amount of US$ 75,000.00 was raised with all the fundraising activities taking place. Michelle van der Werff, Regatta Director explains: "The turn-out to this year's event was incredible and to see the many familiar faces that decided to come back and support the island is heart-warming. We can't say it was an easy year, but we're so extremely proud with the end result and to be able to directly give back to the community. The fundraising aspect has been a missing link within the Regatta and is something we are looking to continue moving forward."

A big thank you goes out to Heineken as the title sponsor making the event possible and to all the food vendors and their contribution to charity; Topper's, Johnny B under the Tree, Gigi's, Gourmet2Go, Agi Pasta Away, Domino's, Driftwood, G-Spot, Delishus and Kes Gourmet Food Truck. Also, to all beverage suppliers Mojito Lemon, Dany from Island Smoothies Airport Road and of course International Liquor and Tobacco Trading, who was managing all bars on site.

Aside from the charity contributions through event tickets and token sales, another fundraising initiative was the car raffle initiated by Real Auto SXM and executed by the Rotary Club of St. Maarten and Mid-Isle. A brand-new Suzuki model was donated by Real Auto to be raffled off and added significantly to the overall funds that were raised during the week of the Regatta with the full proceeds going towards organizations working on hurricane relief projects. On top of that, a contribution of each Gill St. Maarten Heineken Regatta shirt sold by the Regatta office was donated to Charity.

Funds will be allocated to the different partner foundations of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta in the coming week. More information about the specific projects that the funds will be geared towards will follow soon.

www.heinekenregatta.com