Giving towards the fight against breast cancer

Payless Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Ambassador, Chelan Smith, has made a personal donation of $94,000 to the Jamaica Cancer Society. As breast cancer awareness month comes to a close, Smith, who goes by the moniker 'MamaChel', reminisced on the reason for her giving.

"This cause is very near to my heart, my mother died from breast cancer when I was 12 years old", she shared while handing over the cheque. Payless ShoeSource who gave Smith an opportunity to be apart of their campaign initiative, will be giving a special donation to the Mahima Foundation. Public Relations Officer for the Jamaica Cancer Society, Shullian Brown, describes the act as a selfless one.

"We are really grateful for this donation," said Brown, who accepted the cheque on the organisation's behalf. "We receive many personal donations from persons, especially during October."

Conversations

"I believe the conversations about breast cancer have improved over the years, however, we still have more to do as some women are still not educated on the importance of getting screened which is important if you have a high chance of developing cancer. Early diagnosis can make a major difference. A stage one diagnosis has better survival rates than a stage four," advised Chelan.

You can give a donation to a charity of your choice that is making a difference in the lives of persons battling cancer. There is an approved list of legitimate charities and funds on the Department of Cooperative and Friendly Societies (DCFS) website that will guide you in making this decision.