REQUESTS for assistance of all forms are not uncommon to private sector firms, and in many cases the companies do as much as they can to help.

However, the austere economic climate has resulted in an increase in the number of such requests from the public, so much so that one organisation, Sagicor Group Jamaica, has admitted that it is flooded daily.

Richard Byles, president and chief executive officer of Sagicor Group Jamaica, made the revelation at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange in response to a question from journalists.

“Every day, from a pin to an anchor,” Byles said of the volume and nature of the requests. “I get lots over my desk every week and I am sure Donovan (Perkins, president and CEO of Sagicor Investments) gets.

“It’s just enormous, and it’s very difficult to pick which ones to support and which ones to say ‘I’m sorry’. It grows every year,” Byles added.

Ingrid Card, Sagicor’s assistant vice-president for group marketing, chimed in, giving figures.

“We get about 40 to 50 (requests for assistance) between letters, phone calls and e-mails every day,” she said, adding that the company’s Marketing Department reviews all requests.

Byles, along with other members of his team and representatives of the three charities selected to benefit from this year’s Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run — the Special Care Nursery at the University Hospital of the West Indies; the Sickle Cell Unit and Sickle Cell Trust; and Jamaica Kidney Kids Foundation — provided editors and reporters with details about the upcoming event and the benefits that will flow to the charities from the funds raised.

Now in its 16th year, the run, which will take place on Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 7:30 am, will see more than 20,000 walkers, joggers, wheelchair racers and competitive runners participating in what is regarded as the Caribbean’s largest road race. The intention of the organisers is to raise $17 million which will be divided amongst three charities, with a portion being reserved to assist with maintenance of the equipment purchased.

Since the first staging of Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run in 1999, charitable contributions of over $124 million have been donated to several health and child-related charities.