The past few days have seen riots break out in multiple Dutch cities in protest of the curfew. During the riots in Den Bosch on Monday night, Maaike Neuféglise’s shop was looted and left destroyed. One website decided to start a fundraiser for the heartbroken store owner — and Dutchies did not disappoint.
On Tuesday morning, a video, in which an emotional Maaike surveys the damage to her shop, went viral and pulled on heartstrings across the nation. As a result, a fundraiser was started by GeenStijl. As of 9 AM this morning, the amount raised has surpassed €100,000.
National attention
By Tuesday night, Maaike found herself on the Dutch TV programme, Jinek, where it was announced that the fundraiser had raised €73,000. When she hears this, the store owner immediately becomes emotional. She said that she was overwhelmed by the heartfelt response to her devastation.
Er is een crowdfunding-actie gestart door @geenstijl om geld om te halen voor de geplunderde winkel van Maaike in Den Bosch. Het totale bedrag staat op dit moment op €73.000,-. “Ik had me voorgenomen heel sterk te zijn, maar ik weet gewoon niet wat ik moet zeggen.” #jinek pic.twitter.com/ggJpXWSnnF
— Jinek (@Jinek_RTL) January 26, 2021
A call from Rutte
Maaike even received a telephone call from Prime Minister Mark Rutte. She told the NOS that she would not go into detail about what was discussed but she described the call as “a very nice conversation.”
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