The charitable initiative started by CIBC bank twelve years ago – Walk for a Cure
– through which monies are raised to help fight cancer, has made a donation of
$90-thousand towards the Oncology Department of the Sir Lester Bird Medical
Centre and Breast Friends.
A formal presentation ceremony was held at the Galley Bay Resort on Tuesday
when the cheque for the amount was presented to representatives of the SLBMC
on behalf of the several organisations that assisted with the campaign.
Speaking on behalf of Good Humans 268, a group representing persons with
disabilities, was its founder, Joshuanette Francis, who noted that the organization
mobilised 400-young people to participate in the event in 2023 and she is
promising that this number will certainly increase for 2024.
Cancer survivor, Lucette James, underscored the importance in having fundraisers
and for the corporate community to donate to these causes as many people who do
not have the finances nor medical insurance usually die early into the diagnosis
because as she puts it ‘cancer care is an expensive, expensive undertaking’.
“The support which CIBC has been giving to cancer care over these years is
invaluable. We appreciate you and we thank you. This work is a labour of love and
through your kind donations every year you are able to support the Oncology
Department and Breast Friends,” she stated.
Michele Lynch, a member of Breast Friends also spoke of her experiences, noting
that she is a 15-year survivor of breast cancer. She noted that the money from the
donation comes in ‘very handy’ especially to assist patients who have to travel
abroad for treatment in light of the closure of the Cancer Centre almost a year ago.
According to Lynch cancer patients often get assistance from the government but
she added that funding is necessary to help family members accompany cancer
patients when they travel overseas.
The $90-thousand cheque was accepted by the head of the department, Dr.
Hanybal Yazigi, who also thanked CIBC and its partners for making the donation
to the hospital.
The Walk for the Cure initiative within the bank is jointly chaired by Natasha
Charles and Khadijah James, who announced the launch of the 13 th installment of
the programme for 2024.
