Dozens of singers, musicians, radio hosts and performers will pool their talents and their time to help raise funds to fight cancer when the first national Cancer Society of The Bahamas telethon airs this Sunday.
The show, to be broadcast live from Atlantis, will be aired on ZNS-TV, Cable 12 and JCN simultaneously from 1-5 pm with the public invited to drop in and participate as well as call in to a 14-line phone bank that will include a free line for Family Island calls.
“The partnerships between the media houses, entertainers, technical crews and the incredible support of Atlantis have been just amazing as we lead up to this telethon,” said Lovern Wildgoose, president of the Society founded in 1976 to assist patients facing what was then largely a date with death and nearly four decades later has a far better survival rate thanks to massive efforts in research, education and early detection and available treatment.
“The energy that is being brought to this event and the dedication by so many people, including the dozens of community and civic leaders who will be working the phones, renews our faith in humankind and demonstrates how broad the desire to assist in the fight against cancer is,” said Ms. Wildgoose, noting that cancer is still the number two cause of death in The Bahamas.
The telethon – a combination of entertainment, interviews with survivors, vignettes from those who have received treatment thanks to the existence of the Cancer Caring Centre – is the official kick-off of a $3 million campaign to raise funds for the much-needed expansion of the Centre off Collins Avenue. The Cancer Society plans to add 16 new rooms to the 10-room facility that Wildgoose says is “all too often full to capacity with a waiting list.”
The expansion will also provide for this island’s first hospice care facility and will enable a day care centre for Nassau patients. Since its opening in late 2005, the Centre has served more than 800 patients, offering a place to stay mostly for those from the Family Islands while they are undergoing treatment in Nassau. For cancer patients, it is an oasis, a place of calm and tranquility and emotional support during a difficult time.
“We urgently need the general public as well as the corporate community to understand and appreciate how important this work is. The Cancer Caring Centre, which has long since outgrown its original size, is often all that stands between hope and hopelessness,” said Ms. Wildgoose.
Among the entertainers donating their time are Freddie Munnings, Jr., Kirkland ‘KB’ Bodie, the Bahama Brass Band, the Tabernacle Concert Choir, Pat Rahming, Urvan Moxey, Ira Storr and the Spank Band, and Visage. Eight well-known hosts are set to share master of ceremony duties, keeping the show flowing – Jessica Robertson, Greg Lampkin, Lester R. Cox, Paul Fernander, Gandhi Pinder, Eddie Carter, Naughty, Tessa Lightbourn and Anthony ‘Skeebo’ Roberts.
Atlantis is donating space for free parking just east of the bridge and the Paradise Island police station. The public is invited.
