Visual and Performance Artists Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month Activities in Rural Jamaica

With October designated as National breast cancer awareness month in Jamaica, The Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation, (MCADF), is keeping up with its commitment…to support cancer-related support groups and agencies.

This time the group made a donation towards activities for breast cancer awareness month, on October 22, 2019, to the Jamaica Cancer Society branch in St. Ann Jamaica.

The donation amount was raised from the Foundation’s participation in the Conu’Co Market held on Heroes weekend in Priory, St. Ann on October 20, 2019.

 The Conu’Co Market is a regularly staged, selling platform for local artisans.

The Foundation partnered with its sister company Maia Chung Artworks, (MCA) to sell art and merchandise, ten percent of which was geared towards causes the foundation works for.

In 2017, the MCADF’s board took the decision to incorporate cancer-related groups and agencies into its work, due to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH)’s confirmation that Cancer is the number two killer of Jamaican people in present-day Jamaica.

In addition, to the MOH’s, update, the  Foundation members, staff and partners have all been affected by cancer in some way and thought it would be good to broaden its scope of work in this area, where the team discovered that needs for emotional and financial support are vast.

This was confirmed by MCADF founder, Maia Chung, as she explained the reasoning behind the organisation’s new direction.

The MCADF is a non-profit, non-governmental philanthropic body.

The method of fundraising for its Cancer focus, according to acting managing director of the MCADF Cinquain Smith, is to incorporate the traditional business activities of the Maia Chung group of companies…into it’s non-profit work. With ten percent of the group’s profits going to Jamaicans living with Autism and Cancer.

Smith, added that for now, MCADF is partnering mainly with MCA in this area.

MCA outside of manufacturing merchandise of its own,  manages new and emerging artists of all genres, helping them to profit from their talents, as well as providing a credible platform for their development and earnings from these abilities.

At the Heroes Day event by the Conu’Co, MCA debuted the artistic talents of one of it’s newest and most promising recruits Roshane Blackwell. A performance and visual artist, who goes by the pseudonym ‘Jimbo.’

MCA helps and develops partnerships with artists on the basis, that the artists commit to some form of giving back to its affiliate  MCADF’s charity work…as a part of their development with the MC Group of Companies.

Come November 17, 2019, the St. Ann branch of the  Jamaica Cancer Society will be staging a breast cancer awareness walk, in the Parish to raise funds and highlight the issues surrounding breast cancer in Jamaica.

The Foundation is now assembling a team of volunteers to participate in this effort.

MCADF officially kicked off its work with Cancer support agencies, by partnering with the Jamaica Ex-Soldiers Association (JESA) in 2018, to donate 2 new wheelchairs to the Consie Walters Cancer Hospice in Kingston Jamaica.