The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cancer Society is expected to receive more than double the financial support for its work this year from CIBC First Caribbean’s Walk For the Cure, an annual fundraising walk held here and across the region in territories where the Bank operates.
Walk Manager Jacintha Hinds revealed that as a result of the generous support of corporate sponsors as well as several fundraising activities organized by employees of the Bank, they had doubled the amount of funds raised so far this year when compared to last year.
She said because of this generous support, the Bank will be able to give more to the Cancer Society this year to allow them to continue providing vital care and support to the many Vincentians who are directly or indirectly affected by cancer.
This Saturday September 26, 2015, the bank will participate in a Fun Day at Victoria Park hosted by one of its sponsors, Flow. Members of the public will be able to make donations and sign up for the walk which takes place on Saturday October 3, 2015 at 5:30a.m.
This year, walkers will leave the car park at the bank’s Halifax Street location (Bank Yard) and make their way to Arnos Vale Roundabout, up to Vigie Highway, right to Villa/Fountain Road and back to the Bank Yard. Registration for the walk is EC$30.00 for adults and EC$20.00 children. Each registered participant will receive a specially branded walk T-shirt.
The Walk for the Cure is now in its fourth year, and is one of CIBC First Caribbean’s premiere regional community engagement and outreach initiatives which benefits cancer organizations throughout the region. It will unite over 10,000 passionate participants in 17 countries in which the bank operates, in a unified demonstration of their commitment to assist those affected by cancer.
In the first three years, the event raised approximately US$330,000.00 to support critical cancer care, purchase vital equipment to treat patients and host general education programmes to create greater awareness of the disease across the region.
Regional fundraising efforts this year are also set to surpass that three year total with over US$280,000.00 raised so far from generous corporate sponsors and an array of staff fundraising events.
Co-Chairs for this year’s walk, CIBC First Caribbean Executives, Trevor Torzsas and Mark St. Hill, praised the fund-raising efforts of the bank’s staff and the enthusiastic support of the business community who have been coming on board as sponsors.
The walk is also held to coincide with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s CIBC Run for the Cure sponsored by the bank’s parent company, CIBC.
CIBC has been supporting this event for more than 20 years, donating millions to breast cancer research in Canada.
