The 5th edition of SABA DOET 2023, an initiative of the Oranje Fonds with the support of the Saba Lions Club, on March 10 and 11 was a big success with 19 projects and some 270 volunteers helping to further improve and beautify Saba.

There was a wide variety of projects. A healthy cooking workshop organized by Parenting in Action and the Cool2BeFit program. Constructing, installing and painting a new lookout bench at St. John’s and cleaning up and renovating the playground at Cove Bay with the Saba Unspoiled Queen Leo Club and Lions Club.

Two of the many valuable projects included dedicating attention to the elderly during the Senior Game Day and improving the greenhouse of the Saba LIFE Center with Saba Cares. Furthermore, volunteers took on the revamping of the maypole and the making of folkloric wear with the Saba Boys and Girls Sports Society afterschool organization.

They also gave the Major Osman R. Simmons Museum a fresh coat of paint, cleaned up the Core Gut Bay and the Fort Bay Harbor and cooked a healthy meal for the Meals on Wheels program at the Saba Comprehensive School.

Volunteers wore a SABA DOET 2023 t-shirt with a special design to mark the 5th anniversary and received a measuring tape tool for their future projects. “The beauty of SABA DOET and volunteering in general is that together, you are doing something useful, helping to improve your island, while you connect and socialize with others,” said organizer Jochem Batstra who encouraged people to look out for SABA DOET 2024.

SABA DOET has been growing in popularity and numbers in the past years. Last year, 15 organizations participated and with the help of 257 volunteers they completed 17 projects. SABA DOET is one of the seven DOET events throughout the Kingdom. The DOET initiative started over 15 years ago, first in the Netherlands, with the Dutch Caribbean islands joining in shortly thereafter.

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