MONTEGO BAY, St James — Members of Montego Bay’s Chinese community have made the single-largest donation ever to the Kiwanis Club of Providence-Montego Bay’s annual Breast Cancer 5K Run/Walk/Wheelchair event, donating $2.55 million of the $8 million targeted for the fund-raising activity which is now in its 14th year.

“Our title sponsorship is in the form of $1 million and this is $2.55 million. Of course, we are grateful, this is the largest yet from one single entity or community,” said a beaming Nadine Spence, chairman of the event.

She views the donation as a vote of confidence in the work the club has done in staging the event over the last 13 years.

“We are just over the moon. We are ecstatic that the Chinese community could come out and support in such a substantial way. It speaks to the community effort and that we are really impacting lives and people are seeing it. For us, it speaks volumes,” Spence stated.

Club President Althia Allen-Keen believes the strong support from the Chinese business community in Montego Bay will encourage others to come on board.

“I hope this year we can make a much larger, significant improvement in the lives of cancer patients and… I hope I’ll get the target of $8 million,” she said.

Organisers expect the number of participants to double the 1,800 who showed up last year and this will also help them meet their goal.

“The support that we will be providing will go to the oncology ward at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, the Jamaica Cancer Society, and to members who are suffering from cancer,” Allen-Keen explained.

Hua Square is the title sponsor for the event and its manager Yangsen Li explained why they and other members of the Chinese business community chose to get involved. Li is also a director of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Our partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Providence-Montego Bay Breast Cancer Fund is a testament to our commitment to the fight against breast cancer,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“We firmly believe that no one should face this challenging journey alone, and our contribution to this noble cause reflects our unity and compassion as a community,” he added.

Registration is now underway for the October 29 event which starts off at Fairview Office Park.