Walk for the Cure Draws Hundreds
This year’s Walk for the Cure has been hailed as a tremendous success, with organisers reporting strong corporate support, an estimated turnout of at least 500 people and the sale of 1,500 shirts to support cancer awareness and fundraising in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
A throng of individuals flocked to the Graceway Gourmet parking lot on Saturday, October 3, to participate in the event. Leading the walk were Governor Her Excellency Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, Deputy Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams, and Minister of Public Safety, Gender and Religious Affairs and Social Welfare, Hon. Shaun Malcolm.
Ladesa Williams, Senior Director of CIBC Caribbean’s Country and Corporate Management Office, said the event demonstrated the community’s commitment to supporting people affected by cancer.
“We actually sold 1,500 shirts, which is tremendous. I’m very pleased and happy with the support from corporate TCI,” Williams said.
“We ran out of shirts. So we ended up having to print some shirts locally.”
Williams said this marked CIBC Caribbean’s 15th staging of Walk for the Cure, a cancer awareness and fundraising initiative conducted across its 10 jurisdictions.
“This is the first year that we have partnered in a significant way with the TCI National Cancer Society,” she said. “The aim really was to increase the number of walkers, and to also increase the fundraising efforts.”
She said participation doubled, based on the assessment shared by National Cancer Society President Vivian Rigby.
Rigby welcomed the turnout, describing it as the largest in recent years.
“We had, I think this is our largest crowd for the past few years,” she said. “I am hoping we had at least 500 people here.”
Demand for shirts also required the society to place repeated orders.
“We had to repeat orders so many times, so we lost count,” Rigby said. “But we are happy that we had this turnout.”
Williams said the desire to contribute extended beyond those physically attending the walk.
“Whether or not they were able to come physically to the walk, people want to wear the shirts,” she said. “And we could not have asked for anything better.”
She stressed that all donated funds would be handed over to the National Cancer Society, while CIBC would cover the administrative costs.
“Every single dollar that’s donated is handed over to the National Cancer Society,” Williams said. “So every single dollar goes to fighting cancer and raising awareness.”
Williams thanked the platinum, gold and bronze sponsors, along with the organising committee and walk managers.
“They do a full-time job at the bank, but they were able to execute this event seamlessly,” she said.
Malcolm described the morning as “a phenomenal, phenomenal turnout” and spoke about his personal connection to the cause.
“I’ve lost an aunt, and one year later I lost a daughter to cancer, so it’s very personal to me,” he said.
“I understand the difficulties that not just the patient, but the families go through dealing with cancer.”
He thanked the society for supporting his family during his daughter’s illness and urged businesses and individuals to continue contributing financially.
“Cancer has no class. Cancer is everybody’s business,” Malcolm said.
Organisers are already looking towards 2027, with plans to increase participation and fundraising.
“The plan next year is to sell 3,000 shirts, and to double the fundraising amount,” Williams said.
Rigby said additional sponsors had expressed interest, encouraging hopes for further expansion.
“Last year was big, but this year was a lot bigger and we intend to extend this next year,” she said.
The society’s October activities continue with In the Pink at the Palms Hotel on October 10, an All Island Walk on October 17, and the Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon at Beaches Resort on October 24 at 1 p.m.
A final fundraising total was not announced in the interviews. Organisers nevertheless expressed confidence that this year’s support would help build an even larger event next year.
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