Deep down we all know that development for the public good can’t only be left to those who govern, using taxpayers’ money.

But it’s a big step from recognising need to actually doing something tangible to help.

For that reason, this newspaper never grows weary of applauding those, here and elsewhere, who go the extra mile to plan and implement projects and programmes to help the less fortunate.

Those at Guardian Group Foundation and Guardian Life Limited involved in the planning and execution of the 2026 edition of the Guardian Group SHINE 5K Night Run/Walk deserve special praise.

That recent run/walk in Kingston and Montego Bay raised $30 million to support Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), Falmouth Public General Hospital, and the private sector-based community change-maker Project STAR.

We also applaud the Rotary Club of St Andrew North, Rotary International, and United Way Worldwide for joining hands to raise US$20,000 to buy medical equipment for newborns at the hurricane-ravaged Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth.

And, surely, no praise can be too high for the work of the London-based charity, Chain of Hope, which for 30 years has helped Jamaican children suffering from heart disease. We are told that, in its latest initiative from June 8 to 15, Chain of Hope in a special anniversary medical mission to Bustamante Hospital for Children is performing open-heart surgery on children with complex conditions.

Regarding the SHINE 5K Night Run/Walk, we endorse the message from president of Guardian Life Limited Meghon Miller-Brown that, “Every person who crossed the SHINE finish line this year helped move Jamaica forward…” And that the run/walk which involved 9,300 participants transformed “individual action into collective impact…”

For the Black River Hospital, which came perilously close to total destruction when giant tidal waves came ashore during Category 5 Hurricane Melissa on October 28, the gift of medical equipment was precious.

Regional director of the Southern Regional Health Authority (St Elizabeth, Manchester, and Clarendon) Michael Bent captured the moment best, perhaps.

That partnership and resulting medical gift not only improved the Black River Hospital’s service, but also helped to rebuild hope for caregivers, Mr Bent said.

At another level, altogether, we are told that over the last 30 years Chain of Hope has conducted more than 70 medical missions to Jamaica, helping hundreds of children struggling with heart disease while supporting a sustainable paediatric cardiac service at Bustamante Hospital for Children.

A major milestone was the development of a dedicated Paediatric Cardiac Centre which opened at Bustamante Hospital in 2017. Said to be the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, it came about with the help of numerous partners alongside Chain of Hope. It includes a cardiac operating theatre, a paediatric intensive care unit, and a cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

Patient care apart, training of Jamaican medical practitioners has been an essential spin-off from Chain of Hope’s work in Jamaica.

“The greatest legacy of this programme is not only the surgeries performed, but the expertise, confidence, and capability built within Jamaica’s own cardiac team,” said paediatric cardiac surgeon Professor Victor Tsang, who heads Chain of Hope’s volunteer medical group.

Well done, we say.