For over fifty years De Palm Tours has been successfully serving Aruba’s tourism industry. In that time the company has also supported the local community in various ways, be it fundraising, coastal cleanups, sponsoring buses and vessels, etc.
Late last year the owners of De Palm felt it was time the company put their support behind a charity or organization that tied in well the what De Palm stood for. “There are many organizations in Aruba that do very good work so the choices were numerous, but at the end of the day, the folks from Family First did a presentation that impressed us with what we were looking to support,” says Warren Stanley General Manager of De Palm Tours. Family First was founded to help and guide families in need. Ricky Malmberg, CEO of De Palm Tours explains: “We are a family company so our support of Family First ties in well with our core values. Approximately 70% of businesses on the island are family owned so a healthy family is a healthy economy. De Palm has committed to an amount of Afl. 100,000 annually to support the financial operations of the foundation as well as provide assistance using our other resources such as buses, know-how, etc to help with their fundraising”.
The foundation has a center in Savaneta where much of the work is done and where families in need can come for assistance. This center serves as an intermediary between the person or family that might not know the way to get through to a certain institution with their specific problem. Family First wants to guide the person or family so that at the end of the route, this family is better able to take care of itself. Family First’s research led to the decision to focus on Savaneta for now where the need is greatest. However the intention is to open centers in other districts around the island.
Over the past six months Family First has worked hard to launch the foundation and in addition to the assistance of de Palm other companies have also been generous with their assistance: Fantastic Gardens, Delta Blue, Caribmedia, Robertson Fire Protection, Setar NV, Divi Impact, Cede Aruba, Franco Sneek and Kiwanis Young Professionals. “We are very appreciative and grateful to all these companies for their generous support and especially De Palm Tours and the Malmberg Family for their extensive support of the foundation,” says Ms. Jenny Lion Sjin Tjoe, Managing Director of the foundation.
Although the center is currently running and serving the community, the official opening will take place in August. For more information please call Family First at 584-2555, Savaneta 334 (in front of the Olympic Pool).
