The Tribune

MORE than $150,000 was donated to the Cancer Society of the Bahamas during a four-hour “telethon” yesterday afternoon which marked the official launch of the organisation’s $3m campaign to raise funds for the expansion of the Cancer Caring Centre off Collins Avenue.

A cheque for $50,000 was presented to Susan Roberts, the founder of the Cancer Society, by Fidelity Bank during the show – broadcast live from the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis, Paradise Island, on ZNS-TV, Cable 12 and JCN simultaneously – while a further $30,000 came from Craig Flowers, owner of the FML brand of web shops. Pledges and donations came from all over The Bahamas, organisers said, including most of the Family Islands.

The telethon – a combination of entertainment, live interviews with survivors such as Melissa Major, film vignettes from those who have received treatment thanks to the existence of the Centre and medical specialists – featured dozens of singers, musicians, radio hosts and performers who gave their time to help raise funds.

It was the first national Cancer Society “telethon” and last night the total raised by the event had reached $151,350. Organisers expect the figure to rise in the final tallying.

The Cancer Society plans to add 16 new rooms to the 10-room facility that Lovern Wildgoose, president of the Cancer Society – which was founded in 1976 – says is “all too often full to capacity with a waiting list.” The expansion will also provide for New Providence’s first hospice care facility and will enable a day care centre for Nassau patients.

Since its opening in 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 tranquillity 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,” said Ms Wildgoose. “The Cancer Caring Centre, which has long since outgrown its original size, is often all that stands between hope and hopelessness. That is why we called the telethon “Building Hope”. We are focusing on the positive knowing that there is hardly a family in The Bahamas that has not been touched by the disease but by spreading the word that there is hope and there is love, together as a community we can make treatment possible for so many more. This is four hours that can make a difference in the lives of thousands going forward.”

Among the entertainers donating their time yesterday were Freddie Munnings Jr, Kirkland “KB” Bodie, the Church of God of Prophecy Bahama Brass Band, the Tabernacle Concert Choir, Pat Rahming, Urvan Moxey, Ira Storr and the Spank Band and Visage. Eight well-known hosts, working in pairs for an hour, shared master of ceremony duties: Jessica Robertson, Eddie Carter, Inigo “Naughty” Zenicazaleya, Lester Cox, Greg Lampkin, Paul Fernander, Gandhi Pinder, Tessa Lightbourn and Anthony “Skeebo” Roberts.

Politicians from all parties, among them Khaalis Rolle, Branville McCartney, Brent Symonette, Andre Rollins, Janet Bostwick and Loretta Butler-Turner, helped to answer the bank of telephones and record the donations. They were joined by civic and business leaders who also gave their time, including Leon Williams, CEO of BTC, Kelley Bostwick-Toote, president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), and lawyer Wayne Munroe.