Charlestown, Nevis, October 15, 2018 (DBSKN) — As Pink Lily Cancer Care is celebrating its tenth anniversary, it will on Saturday October 20 hold its eleventh charity walk under the theme ‘celebrate life’. Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis is among the growing number of corporate citizens and individuals that are partnering with the Nevis-based cancer care group.
“We at the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis firmly believe that a nation’s health is a nation’s wealth, and what these selfless members of Pink Lily Cancer Care are doing is highly commendable,” said Ms Hyacinth Pemberton, Manager for the Nevis Branch. “The education they offer to the general public has helped many get treated at very early stages or even avoid getting cancer. We cannot overemphasise the importance of this walk that will be held on Saturday October 20 to raise funds for the organisation’s noble outreach activities.”
Ms Pemberton made the comments on Thursday October 11, when she received in her office Ms Tracy Parris, Pink Lily’s Cancer Support Coordinator, and Mrs Cindy Freeman, the organisation’s Cancer Survivor Support Assistant, who had come to collect the bank’s monetary contribution towards the fund raising walk which will start at 6:00 am at Chicken Stone in Gingerland. It will take the participants along the Island Main Road, and in Charlestown go round the Samuel Hunkins Drive and continue on to Pinney’s Beach.
According to Ms Tracy Parris, the organisation was launched on February 9, 2008 as Pink Lily Breast Cancer Care at the Old Manor Hotel in Gingerland Nevis, after her sister Mrs Lea Parris-Cambridge and her mother Mrs Mary Parris were diagnosed with breast cancer within two weeks of each other. It has since been renamed Pink Lily Cancer Care, as its mandate covers all forms of cancer for both men and women.
“On Saturday the 20th of October, we are celebrating our tenth anniversary,” explained Ms Parris. “This is actually our eleventh walk because we had two walks in the first year, but this one is the big one, and the campaign is ‘celebrate life’. Our aim is not just to walk to raise funds that we really need, because without funds we cannot help as much as we would like, but the walk is to celebrate life, remembering our loved ones who have passed, remembering the ones that have survived and the ones that are still fighting.”
She praised cancer survivors Mrs Lea Parris-Cambridge, Dr Jessica Bardalis, Mrs Cindy Freeman and other cancer survivors saying “these women are fighters. They are women of hope to me. They inspire a lot of people, not just women – they inspire a lot of people because despite what they are going through, they try to stay as strong as possible. They stay strong, and they give people hope.”
T-shirts for the walk are available at $50 for ages 12 and above and $40 for those aged below 12. There will be a number of prizes to be won at the end of the walk at Pinney’s Beach, including for the oldest man, the oldest woman and the youngest child, and other random prizes. A nutritious breakfast will be served to all the participants.
“Development Bank has actually been a supporter of Pink Lily for a lot of years now,” noted Ms Parris. “They always come on board and they always support us and make a donation to us, which without donations we cannot function fully. So I want to say ‘thank you’ to Development Bank today and all the other people that have supported us over the years because if they did not believe in us, they won’t support us.”
Cancer survivor Mrs Cindy Freeman, Pink Lily’s Cancer Survivor Support Assistant, noted that she joined the organisation when it was formed in 2008, but developed cancer in 2009. She explained that Mrs Lea Parris-Cambridge has been a tower of strength for her as she (Freeman) was fully prepared on what to expect when undergoing chemotherapy.
“I am asking all of us to come and walk with us,” appealed Mrs Freeman. “We need the support, we need the help, and we need donations. We are a non-profit organisation – we do not have money, and so we need the help with the money. We give back to patients who do not have it. Pink Lily has helped me financially, and many others who can’t afford a treatment – so we give back to people. We also provide cancer literature to health centres.”