Director of the LIME Foundation Troy Cockings is optimistic that the second staging of the LIME Foundation 6K Run/Walk dubbed ‘Run for the children’, will raise approximately $10 million.

The event scheduled to take place on January 18 in Portmore, St Catherine, is aimed at raising funds which will assist parents of children who are unable to afford cancer treatment.

Cockings explained that along with the run, they will have other methods in place which will assist in achieving the target. The idea, he said, is to have a long-standing contribution to a fund at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

“In addition to participating in the race, you can also send a text message to 444-4273 and we will deduct $50 from your credit or add $50 to your postpaid bill,” he said while speaking at the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the tabloid’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters yesterday.

He continued: “Outside of that we are going to be creating an online portal where you can make donations using your credit card or your debit card.

“So that will be ongoing and those two initiatives will continue all year round for the next 10 years, because the fund is ongoing, so we will always need money to support the initiatives that come to us for consideration.”

Cockings, also outlined that plans are in place to stage another run later in the year.

“We want to call it a run through the inner city, but it has not been finalised as yet; this run that we do every January is specifically for assisting sick kids in Jamaica. So we are going to look at another run, but probably in the summer.”

The event which will be under the patronage of Lady Allen, will begin and end at the Fort Clarence Beach. Contribution will be $1,000 for adults and $200 for children.

The day’s events will get under way at 6:00 am with a warm-up, followed by the run at 6:30 am. The carnival will proceed with a family fun day at the beach from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, with a fee of $500 for adults and $200 for children.

“Every money that we get will go a far way. So we are going to be getting money from the text messaging, we (are) getting money from donations, we (are) getting money from sponsors, we (are) getting money from persons paying to enter the race, the fun day and persons donating from overseas.

“We are looking to come up with at least $10 million. I think that would be a good start, because a typical treatment cycle for radiotherapy is between $800,000 and $1 million. So I think right there we could help 10 kids right away, so that is the objective,” said Cockings.

Bib pick-ups are slated to take place on January 15, 16 and 17.