CHARLESTOWN, Nevis - The newly appointed Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis Attorney General, Patrice Nisbett, on Friday handed over EC1,000 to Pink Lily Cancer Care and another EC1,000 to Hope Nevis, St. James’s branch , donated to the charities by Winfest Committee.
Lea Parris Cambridge, Founder and Executive Director, Pink Lily Cancer Care accepted the cheque on behalf of the charity while Verlyn Glasgow of Hope, Nevis represented her organization.
Glascow said that Hope is thankful for this donation and will use it to help people in the community in any health problems that they are facing.
The Attorney General thanked the charities for the noble tasks they are engaged in. He was hopeful that Pink Lily would in future broaden the activities of the charity by facilitating the setting up of a cancer treatment centre in Nevis. He encouraged Pink Lily to also engage in research activities.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Joslyn Liburd, who represented the Minister of Health,Hon. Hensley Daniel and the Nevis Island Administration(NIA) thanked Winfest Committee for giving back to the community. She also said that Pink Lily was a deserving charity. She was hopeful that other organizations would emulate Pink Lily.
Lea Parris Cambridge who spoke during the cheque donation ceremony. Over the years, said Lea Parris-Cambridge, the charity had found out that other types of cancer needed equal attention. As a result, she noted, the word breast was dropped from the charity name to include all cancers.
She described the Winfest cheque donation as a “wonderful gift” and said it would go along way in enabling Pink Lily to offer services to cancer sufferers and to help spread the message that “early detection saves lives.” Pink Lily, she said was established in 2007 and has continued to create cancer awareness. The charity also offers free services to cancer sufferers and those affected by cancer.
Ms Glasgow appealed to St. James’s residents to become members of Hope Nevis. She said one of the charity’s goals is to fund raise for persons needing overseas treatment.
Winfest Chairman, Pearlievan Wilkin, said when the charity was launched in 2007, the primary objective was to make enough money to contribute to charities and needy causes. He said in 2007, the festival committee donated EC2,000 to the Renal Society. In 2008, he said, the committee donated a stove to a Police station and in 2009, the festival committee partnered with NIA and Best Buy to honor 12 persons in St. James’s area for their noble contributions to the community.
Meanwhile, Patrice Wilkin Executive Director, Winfest, announced that this year’s festival will be held from May 18 to May 24th. He called on well wishers to come on board so that the festival could realize its goals and objectives. He said initially when the festival was launched, the aim was to send contestants to queen shows and the St. Kitts carnival. However, he noted, the festival’s mandate has expanded and moneys generated by the festival is used to coordinate the festival while the rest is given back to the community.
