Volunteers make a difference for Cancer Society

(CICS): When 25 public spirited volunteers got together to help the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, the real challenge was finding a project big enough for so many pairs of hands. This community minded collective from Deloitte ended up painting an entire building in just a day for the Cancer Society, brightening up what will become the site of the new Chemotherapy Facility for the Cayman Islands, which is an important new project between the Cancer Society and the Health Services Authority. "Our office at the Cancer Society is actually very small so we couldn't fit all of the willing individuals in our space and wehad to think of something off-site for them to do," said Jennifer Weber – Operations Manager at the Cayman Islands Cancer Society. 

"We asked them if they would considerpainting a whole building for us and this eager group really rose to the challenge."

Spending a full day working outside in the hot sun, the group from Deloitte tackled the task in great spirits. "Our staff and summer interns were all keen to help the Cancer Society in whichever areas they needed the most and we were entirely in their hands," said Jennifer Skinner, Human Resources Senior Manager. "For our team, painting the building together was such a great experience and a really useful bonding exercise, between our interns and their mentors,” she added.

The building in question is located on Pines Road, where the old Lighthouse School was formerly housed and will house a new state of the art Chemotherapy facility for the people of the Cayman Islands. The new Chemo Unit will be located at the Cayman Islands Hospital in an existing building formerly occupied by the old Lighthouse School, Smith Road, George Town, Grand Cayman. The project encompasses a complete renovation and fit out of 1000 sq ft of existing building.

This project is being developed by the Cayman Islands Cancer Society to serve any patient who desires to receive Chemotherapy treatment in the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Cancer Society will hand the unit over to the Health Services Authority (HSA) upon completion. Going forward, the unit will fall under the auspices of the HSA, and will be operated as part of the health care facilities that are available to all visitors and residents of the Cayman Islands.

"On behalf of all our volunteers and also the HSA, I'd like to thank the group from Deloitte for their help with the painting project and for so generously donating their time and effort," Ms Weber of the Cancer Society said. "The joint project with the HSA is important because. The new Chemotherapy Unit will be an expensive project but it’s worth it because it will more than double the current Chemo unit’s capacity to provide healing treatment which will allow more patients to be treated locally, where they can recuperate surrounded by the comfort of loved ones and home. The unit will feature four infusion chairs in an open, bright, state-of-the-art space where patients will have a view of a beautiful garden to inspire feelings of hope.”

The Cayman Islands Cancer Society is funded exclusively through charitable donations and fundraising events. The mission of the Society is to increase awareness among the people of the Cayman Islands of cancer as a major health concern, to initiate positive change in all areas relating to cancer, to prevent the development of cancer and to counsel and support cancer patients and their families.