UPDATE: VI Cancer Society Masquerade Gala rakes in over $20k
“We had fun while doing it and one of the key ingredients was that we made it economical,” said Ms Gloria Fahie.
The society’s Grand Masquerade Gala was held in collaboration with His Excellency Governor and Mrs. McCleary at the governor’s house. “Residents are coming around and practicing good corporate citizenship and that’s a major sign that persons have confidence in us and that they also realize the importance of what we are doing,” said Ms Fahie.
She credits their excellent public relations strategies and the commitment of their membership for the upward trend of the society thus far. “We want people to also keep referring persons who are affected by cancer to also come to us, we will help, we know what it takes, we know what it is. That is why we throw our every energies to raise funds to help.”
Ms Fahie said that persons are also encouraged to come forward to share moral support if not in the need for finances. “There is no one better than an affected person to strengthen another and we need to develop a buddy system.”
In addition to being extended to Virgin Gorda for their next activity, Ms Fahie said that they are soliciting ideas of how best they can infiltrate the hearts of children to promote healthy lifestyles. “I am a strong believer in capturing the mind from a very young stage because the older the tree the harder it is to bend,” she said.
The society is currently toying with the idea of a dollar drive in school but is fielding ideas of how to get the message over to children that would encourage them to practice healthy lifestyles and at the same time be an influence to the adults in their lives.
See previous story posted January 25, 2013:
Overwhelming support @ Cancer society’s fundraiser
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – It was a night of masks of all fashion, shapes and designs at what can be deemed as one of the biggest, most supported fundraising events hosted by the BVI Cancer Society over the past year.
It was themed ‘Masquerade Gala – a night to remember’ and was a collaborative venture with His Excellency Governor William B. McCleary and Mrs. McCleary and the Virgin Islands Cancer Society as they sought to make the event a signature activity to raise funds for the society.
President of the Cancer Society, Ms Gloria Fahie, hadn’t words enough to thank the many persons who turned out from almost all the sister islands that make up the Virgin Islands, in a show of contributing to a worthy cause.
“This is what I would want to call a people together, fighting a common cause; many lives that could have been saved were lost to cancer because they didn’t get the support that was needed. Today, tonight is evidence that we as a people are not going to be giving up on our brothers and sisters we are going to give them a fighting chance,” she told Virgin Islands News Online.
Equal in importance to the persons who physically turned out in their numbers were those who supported by providing gifts and made mammoth or small donations. “The business community and a number of individuals really came around for us, we had some really pricy gifts and I want to thank all those businesses and persons who give prizes, made donations or contributed even if it was five minutes of their time. There were persons who just called to wish us well and we are grateful for even that phone call,” Ms Fahie added.
Most of the items were auctioned off and prizes were given away for the main competition of the night, “The best mask” competition. This was the highlight of the night as quite a number of persons including HE Governor McCleary took to the stage to display their mask. While the Governor managed to make it to the final three, his mask wasn’t good enough in the crowd’s opinion to claim the first prize.
A female, whose identity was not revealed even at the end, carted off the coveted prize of best mask.
According to Public Relations Officer of the BVI Cancer Society, Ms Stacy L. Lloyd, they would soon be heading to Virgin Gorda to coordinate their next activity and will be doing similar events in the other main sister islands throughout the year.
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