Philipsburg, St. Maarten, — Engage Foundation had a mission to clean St. Maarten one run at a time. That mission was completed on Sunday morning during the First Annual Engage Caribbean Gems Trash Run. Six teams collected a total of 3,144 lbs. of trash.
Manu Budhrani of Caribbean Gems aptly reminded participants that “it is our island and with initiatives such as this, we show just how much garbage the island has, but it should not be like this! There should be some other way that people handle and treat their garbage”. He congratulated all the teams for coming out and taking part in the event.
The six teams, Pain Cave Tribe, Sentinel Guardians, Crossfit SXM, U 2 Can Move, Tribal Hogs, and JCI SXM Waste Slayers, took off from Raoul Illidge Sports Complex and made their way to their zones in the districts of Cole Bay, Simpsonbay and Cay Bay, collecting trash along the way and within their respective zones.
The winning team, Pain Cave Tribe received $1000.00 towards its charities of choice, Animal Defenders and Safe Haven. “Some events focus on fitness, some events focus on awareness and some events benefit the entire community, but Engage Foundation managed to combine all three of these into one incredible event. We were able to challenge ourselves, laugh and clean up our beautiful home all at the same time.”, said Nicole Erato, of Pain Cave Tribe.
Sentinel Guardians placed second with $500.00, which will go towards the Youth Extravaganza Foundation. “Engage foundation organized an amazing event today, a challenging event that combined positively contributing to our community on one hand and promoting team spirit on the other- can’t wait for the next event.” stated Sentinel Guardians’ Marlon Matser.
Crossfit SXM placed third with $250.00, destined for No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation. Team member, Susy Maidwell Piscione: “Today proved that winning really doesn’t matter, instead being part of making a difference is so much more important.”
The trash was taken to St. Maarten Recycling, where it will be sorted and sent for recycling. Engage was pleased to team up and be able to make an even greater impact on the environment, bringing the “run” full circle.
Engage Foundation encourages all residents to re-use, reduce and keep St. Maarten clean by disposing of their garbage responsibly. The foundation thanks its partner Caribbean Gems, sponsors Topper’s, St. Maarten Recycling, Alite B.V, Payne Shipping, Ace Home Center, Nature Foundation, Viva Signs, Deon Swart, Heavenly Water, T-Shirt Maxx, as well as First Responder Cayley Mackay of Nicole Tri SXM and Richard Hazel of RTGY Photography, and all the volunteers for making the Trash Run a huge success.
