PHILIPSBURG--Volunteer Corps of St. Maarten VKS hosted a ceremony in celebration of its 21st anniversary in front of the Government Administration Building on Saturday.
Uniformed services marched through Philipsburg after the annual speeches and promotions. The celebration concluded with a reception at Hope Estate Recreation Centre until the evening hours.
The responsibility for matters concerning the VKS falls under Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin, who was present among other dignitaries. The minister also assisted with the pinning of the VKS soldiers with their promotions alongside VKS Commander Antonio Rogers and VKS board chairman Franklyn Richards.
“Allow me as Prime Minister to congratulate the organisation on attaining this milestone and, more importantly, to the members of the VKS who have stood with the organisation from the onset.
“The Volunteer Corps of St. Maarten continues to play a critical role in our community through empowering and inspiring our men and women to develop themselves individually and professionally; through providing support to government security services such as the police and the house of detention; through assisting NGOs [non-governmental organisations – Ed.] such as the Red Cross, Youth Brigade, and many other NGOs during essential and sometimes daunting times; and through playing an active role before, during and after any disaster response or emergency,” said Marlin on Saturday during her address.
“To all VKS members as we know in 2018 – you are part of a special breed of individuals that are committed to seeing their communities flourish and are willing sacrifice their time and service to a noble cause. On behalf of the Government of St. Maarten, I want to thank you sincerely and I encourage you to remain steadfast, as we are currently in the early stages of yet another hurricane season.
“To the board and Commander of the VKS, continue the good work that you are doing to develop this organisation to its full potential and rest assured that you can count on my support going forward.”
