TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Food boxes getting stolen/Volunteers Threatened

Sad, but comparable to looting after a hurricane or any other situation that lends itself to this behavior.

I believe the situation on the island will be MUCH WORSE than after a hurricane. The stores are not destroyed now but simply not available because they are locked down. Hmmm, stocked and locked up? That won't work well for those needing things as we can see by food boxes being stolen. That is only the beginning...

They should be treated the same as looters. Shoot to kill. That'll stop it.

Until the Dutch Marines arrive from Holland, there is little chance of any enforcement.

I understand your point but such strong language will not be tolerated. Looters are not treated that way on the island, you will have some agree with you and some not but discussion like this is not acceptable.

Well said.

If the thief truly needs the items to feed his/her family I can see the motive, however it is probably just an opportunity for them to take something (anything) for resale. Tragic part is, the deliveries are intended for the needy, and they will obviously do without if their delivery is stolen. Truly a sad situation.

Motive or not it is still wrong.

On TV, we see Folks lining up in shiny Lexus’ and BMWs here in local drive thru food banks for free food boxes.


Thinking of getting some ourselves, not sure when this ends.

Yep, the same is seen around here also.

I spoke with a friend who has an employee who volunteers at their church's food bank. Supposedly OH increased in some fashion the SNAP (used to be known as food stamps) allowance and basically put everyone at the maximum benefit. The day this person volunteered earlier this week, they had a whopping 2 cars come through as it appears there was not a need for more free food in their area.

Hopefully those on SXM who actually need help are the ones getting the food boxes.

I guess it depends on your area, and how poor it is. Where I am, it is a poor area. In fact, in our county, the VAST majority of children are eligible for free school lunches. There are free food giveaways here now every two weeks, by the local United Way agency. The line for the last food giveaway they did was approximately 2.5 hours long, and the food bank ran out of food with people in line. (The line was people lined up in their cars.) The free food bank giveaways in this area do NOT have any financial requirements. People who come in and fill out forms can get additional food/rent/utilities/etc help also.

Hopefully this was a short term problem with people stealing the food in SXM. I sure hope so.

Stealing food is just the beginning... Here in Vermont the Governor just extended Stay-at-home orders till May15th. That means the majority of businesses and employees will not have worked for two months!