The Forever Blessed Foundation works together with George Pelgrim
Philipsburg – The Forever Blessed Foundation will be active and communities all across St. Maarten for summer 2022. Founded in 2003, by its director Ms. Jenny Peterson, The Forever Blessed Foundation has been collecting food and clothing from business, companies, and people in the community to donate to less fortunate people, who don’t have access to public assistance.
According to Ms. Peterson, The Forever Blessed Foundation was started at her home when her son went away to Holland to study, and had lots of clothes that he couldn’t take with him. Her son was a little apprehensive to give away his belongings, even though the clothes probably wouldn’t fit him when he came back from Holland. Jenny told him “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and with some persuasion he finally agreed to let his mother donate his clothing. This would be the beginning of what would become a 20 year career in charitable acts which would later be called The Forever Blessed Foundation.
The name “Forever Blessed” Foundation says it all. Ms. Peterson believes that it’s important to take your blessings and pay them forward. That’s how you continue to stay forever blessed.
Following her lead, other courageous members of the community have seen Ms. Peterson’s great work, and decided to lend a helping hand as well. In 2019, the foundation was in need of a vehicle to help make food deliveries. Being a non-profit organization comes with it’s challenges, and one of Jenny’s neighbors answered the call to help ease the burden of doing this noble work without receiving any funding. The Foundation was able to purchase a pick-up truck, thanks to the help of Ms. Peterson’s neighbor who sold it for nearly half of what him and his wife were originally selling it for. The truck was used, and needed some repairs, but despite it’s age and normal wear and tear, the foundation was able to utilize it to collect food from donors, as well as deliver food to families in need.
Another member of the community who is very active with his philanthropic endeavors of his own, Mr. George Pelgrim also caught wind of the great work Ms. Peterson has been doing. Mr. Pelgrim reached out to the foundation and asked if there’s anything he can do to support them and help in any way possible. After meeting, and making several food deliveries with Ms. Peterson, George Pelgrim and his company St. Maarten Shipping and Stevedoring (SSS) decided to give the foundation’s pickup truck a much needed face-lift, and repair it to an almost brand-new working condition.
“Thanks to Mr. George Pelgrim, we can continue doing our work and feeding the less fortunate here in St. Maarten. I don’t know what I do without the help of Mr. Pelgrim. We need more people like him in our community. He’s like part of the foundation.”, said Ms. Peterson.
The truck that was refurbished by Mr. Pelgrim is used to deliver 40 soups on Sundays, collect and deliver food donations seven days a week, and distribute food to homeless animals twice a week. The Forever Blessed Foundation was notarized in 2016, but Ms. Peterson says her passion to help people was born back in the 1980’s when she saw her mother giving away clothes and food to Haitian and Dominican immigrants who were less fortunate.
“I ask God to give me the courage and strength to keep going, but thanks to people like Mr. Pelgrim, I can keep on going forward and helping the community of St. Maarten”, stated Ms. Peterson when asked what drives her to continue the great work she’s doing in the community.
