A total of eight local cancer charities recently shared $73,000 when CIBC FirstCaribbean donated the proceeds from its fifth annual cancer fundraiser, 'Walk for the Cure', which was held last October.
The recipients of the funds included the cancer societies of New Providence, Sister Sister organizations in New Providence and Grand Bahama, the Cancer Association of Grand Bahama, the cancer societies of Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama, and the One Eleuthera Foundation.
The bank's signature 'Walk for the Cure' event is held each October in New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama to coincide with Cancer Awareness Month.
During a press conference at the bank's Shirley Street branch to present a check to the cancer organizations, Managing Director of the bank Marie Rodland-Allen announced that 'Walk for the Cure', held across the 17 territories where the bank has a presence, raised $500,000 regionally and that included the funds raised in The Bahamas.
"We sat here on August 23rd of last year to launch our fifth annual walk for the cure charity fundraiser, and about five months later, we are pleased with the support of our staff, their friends, their families, our amazing corporate sponsors and the cancer societies who collectively made last year's fundraising event a resounding success," Rodland-Allen said.
Trevor Torzsas, managing director of customer relationship management and strategy for the bank, and co-chairman of the 'Walk for the Cure', explained that it is important for CIBC FirstCaribbean to give back to the countries the bank operates in.
"By utilizing our presence in these countries and our relationships with clients and companies we can bring them together to do good in this community; we have raised more than USD$1.2 million over five years, which has allowed us to support numerous organizations around the Caribbean that can provide detection and care for several different types of cancer."
Sister Sister President Andrea Sweeting thanked CIBC FirstCaribbean for recognizing her organization.
"We get excited when we get these types of sponsorships from different persons and entities because it means so much to us and allows us to better assist the people who come to us for help," Sweeting said.
Melissa Major of the Cancer Society of The Bahamas said the proceeds from the 'Walk for the Cure' will greatly impact her organization.
"We have a cancer caring center that is home away from home for cancer patients and this is a big deal because when they come here they stay with us during the time they are doing their treatment, they stay with us free of charge, so this will definitely make a difference to all those cancer patients, and our numerous programs our organization has."
The walk is 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.

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