The Tribune

Kids of all ages brought out their riding toys last Friday at the Sandals Foundation sponsored Trike-A-Thon Bahamas in aid of the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The young participants, who attend Tambearly School and the Lyford Cay International School, participated in the annual St Jude trike-a-thon tradition, which consists of a week-long curriculum covering riding-toy safety for day care centers and pre-schools across the United States and in the Bahamas.

The proceeds from this year’s registration fee and donations are still being collected and tallied and will go directly to St Jude, where several Bahamian children have received and are receiving treatments for varying health issues.

Joining a list of more than 7,000 trike-a-thon events in aid of St Jude Hospital – located in Memphis, Tennessee – the Bahamas Trike-a-thon was first held in Nassau in 2011. Since then, the Sandals Foundation-sponsored trike-a-thon has raised more than US$28,000.

“No family ever pays for the care their child receives (including travel, room and board for family members).

“Worldwide community events like Trike-A-Thon contribute significantly to the whopping US$1.8 million in daily operating fees that it takes to care and find cures for the sickest children in the world,” said lead Trike-A-Thon Bahamas organiser, Stanja Seivright.

“Every child saved at St Jude means thousands more saved worldwide because the hospital freely shares their research with the global medical community. Because of events like Trike-A-Thon, countless children, like Caleb from The Bahamas, have enjoyed a lifetime of moments they might otherwise have missed.”

St Jude, which opened in 1962 to a survival rate of four per cent, now records an overall childhood cancer survival rate of 80 per cent, according to its 2013 annual report.

The treatment facility – a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders, and infectious diseases in children – openly shares its finding with hospitals and healthcare institutions across the world as an attempt to end deadly diseases that affect children.

“Trike-A-Thon Bahamas is now in its fourth year, and it is heart-warming to see children coming out in support of this very important cause,” said Heidi Clarke, director of programmes for the Sandals Foundation.

“Coming together to give children a fighting chance at life is what Trike-A-Thon Bahamas supports and we’re pleased to be a partner.”

The Sandals Royal Bahamian team came out in force to volunteer at the Trike-A-Thon, helping the kids along their cycling route and handing out food and drinks throughout the day.