Hope for two girls battling cancer
Almeida splits his Grant a Wish allocation to NCB dads
TWO NCB staff members whose daughters are battling cancer and undergoing extensive treatment are this year’s recipients of NCB Financial Group Limited CEO Robert Almeida’s Grant a Wish allocation.
Cordell Brown, business banker at NCB’s Baywest branch in St James, has a six-year-old daughter who has been diagnosed with high-risk leukaemia and is currently receiving treatment overseas, while Maurice Dawson, a customer care agent, is caring for his four-year-old daughter diagnosed with a form of high-risk leukaemia
As part of the programme, the group CEO is allocated $500,000 for his Grant a Wish pick. This year Almeida elected to split his allocation between two staff members facing extraordinary personal circumstances.
“Without my community I don’t know how I would survive,” a release from NCB quotes Brown. “This donation is coming from home. NCB has been my backbone through this journey, and this contribution reminds me that I’m not facing it alone.”
The donation, he said, will help offset the significant, ongoing costs associated with his daughter’s care, including travel and accommodation.
Dawson’s daughter, too, is undergoing an equally gruelling, though different, treatment regime.
“The chemo treatment and medication are ongoing expenses,” the release quotes Dawson. “Doctors will call you when a need arises, and when your child’s life is on the line, there’s no waiting. I am truly grateful for this contribution.”
Almeida said his decision was shaped by what he learned about the two families’ circumstances and the support shown by colleagues across the organisation.
“It breaks my heart to think that children have to go through illnesses like this,” he said. “When I saw how the team rallied around these families there was no question in my mind that I wanted to help too, and Grant a Wish provided a meaningful way to do so.”
NCB Foundation’s Grant a Wish is open to all Jamaicans and residents across the island, not only NCB customers. Nominations close at midnight on December 31, 2025. Wishes may be submitted online at www.jncb.com/grantawish or at participating NCB branches islandwide.
