The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

SHIFTING focus to the youth this year, members of the Warrior Campaign are thrilled to launch an initiative to raise awareness of childhood cancer in the Bahamas.

The Warrior Campaign was developed last year by three women, all entrepreneurs, who have come into contact with cancer through their loved ones who have battled the disease. 

Charlene Carey of Bullart Design, LaTess Bartless of Chocolatess Island Delights, and Davina Rutherford of Minding Your Business joined forces to achieve their goal – to raise awareness of cancer and to educate the community about the work the Cancer Society of Grand Bahama is doing.

Now, the team is excited to branch out into a new project called “The Little Warrior Campaign”.

The campaign was initially expected to launch this month, which is recognised internationally as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, but now it will officially start in October.

“The children are our future and our reason to fight,” Ms Rutherford told Tribune Health.

She said here in the Bahamas there is a lot of focus on the many aspects of how cancer affects adults, which has led to breakthroughs in treatment and more cases going into remission, but she feels there is very little focus on children.

“There have been a growing number of cases with children battling the disease. We decided to branch off to increase awareness in the area in hopes of one day leading to breakthrough treatments for children battling the disease,” said Ms Rutherford.

“The campaign also refers to any child who has had a parent or sibling that has cancer or passed away from cancer. We are calling them ‘little warriors’ because they, too, are engaged in a fight.”

The Little Warrior Campaign will also assist in giving children the opportunity to travel to a New York City facility, Camp Good Days, where kids living with cancer and other life-threatening diseases visit for 10 days to socialise and have fun with children.

“We would like to take as many children as we can, but funds are limited. Camp Good Days was founded by Gary Mervis after his daughter Elizabeth “Teddi” Mervis was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour at the age of nine in 1979. What started off as a something to provide a residential camping experience for Teddi and 62 other children with cancer from upstate New York has grown to become one of the largest organisations of its kind in the country. As of 2010, the camp has served more than 43,000 campers from 22 states and 27 foreign countries, including the Bahamas,” said Ms Rutherford.

Last year, the Warrior Campaign hosted a series of events during the month of October in an effort to raise awareness. Ms Rutherford said supporters can look forward to the same push this year with a few new elements to be added.

“The Little Warrior will be beneficial to Bahamian children and parents because it allows a child that would otherwise be restricted to have a vacation and experience new things with children that are going through the same things that they are going through. It will give them a new outlook on life, allow them, if only for a moment, to not focus on the disease and encourage them to continue to fight,” she said.

To keep up with the Little Warrior Campaign, visit the organisation’s Facebook page; The Warrior Campaign.