BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE streets of downtown Basseterre were this morning (Oct. 22) transformed into a sea of pink as over 1,500 persons walked and or ran to raise awareness for breast cancer.
The walk commenced at 6:30 a.m. from the Caribbean Cinemas and ended at the last roundabout in Frigate Bay.
The initiative was organised by the Essence of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation as the marquee event on its calendar of activities to recognize October as Breast Cancer Month.
Included in the list of persons who participated for the cause were a number of prominent members of society, business owners and political leaders.
Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Two, Hon. Marcella Liburd told SKNVibes that she was happy to see an increase in numbers at this year’s event, indicating that more people have seen the need to raise awareness.
She wants to see more men becoming involved in the event for years to come, because males are also being diagnosed with the ailment.
“I am happy to see the turnout at this breast cancer walk this morning. As usual, it is very, very good and the good thing about this walk is that we have tried to promote it more to men, even though we see a lot of women coming out.
“Breast cancer is also a male thing, not just a female thing. There have been quite a few males who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Maybe next time I am hopeful that they can market it more to men. I want to commend Pam and her team for putting on this event.”
President of Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI), Paul Lalor, a major sponsor of the event, told SKNVibes that he was struck by the number of persons who took part in the walk.
“ICWI is proud of the relationship we have developed with Essence of Hope. It is our second year partnering with the Foundation. This is an initiative that we do throughout the Caribbean, but this is one of the best-organized ones that we have seen so far.”
Ambassador for Sport, Jonel Powell explained that the awareness and education drive has been commendable for the Essence of Hope Foundation and other similar bodies providing services to those in need.
“This is something that I have personally seen affect families. I have seen the way the diagnosis have shocked families, but it has also empowered survivors. I think efforts like this are meant to encourage those persons with diagnosis and those who are affected by the diagnosis.
“I have been encouraged to participate for years now and I encourage a lot of people to do the same. It is catching on and the entire effort is to raise awareness and resources to fight what is a crippling disease for our population.”
CEO of the Essence of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, Pamela Armstrong stated that the walk was a success as they were expected to meet their target of persons they wanted to attend.
She indicated that they had sold over 1,400 T-shirt for the event but there were other persons who also showed their support for the event.
“This is the biggest ever and we look forward to next year. I am very, very happy with the turnout because it shows that people really do care and we know that the survivors we help would love this. If we don’t have fundraisers like this we wouldn’t have any money to help with Chemotherapy.
“What I am very happy about is to see the corporations and companies come out in their numbers...this has never happened to us before.”
The Foundation will be hosting two other events this week to culminate its month of activities.
