The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund will once again field a team in the Jamaica Reach to Recovery (JR2R) Pink Run on Sunday, October 25, at Emancipation Park in New Kingston. The run honours those affected by breast cancer while raising funds to help survivors access life-saving tests and treatment.
The move follows the Fund’s participation in the recently held Blue Run for prostate cancer awareness, and reflects its wider commitment to cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and care.
JR2R, the organiser of the annual Pink Run, is aiming to raise $30 million this year, up from the $28 million raised in 2025, with a target of 20,000 participants. The run is themed “Miles and Miles of Hope,” and proceeds will support JR2R’s work to help women who cannot afford breast cancer screening, procedures and treatment.
“Breast cancer affects families in every parish, and as a national funding agency we want to help close the gaps in screening, treatment and support,” said W. “Billy” Heaven, Chief Executive Officer of the CHASE Fund. “Our team on Sunday is made up of the people we work with and the communities we serve. We are proud to run and walk alongside Jamaica Reach to Recovery and the women and families it supports.”
Sandra Samuels, President of Jamaica Reach to Recovery, welcomed the Fund’s participation. “When a woman is diagnosed, the whole family feels it. We are grateful to the CHASE Fund for turning out in force, because every runner and walker on Sunday brings us closer to our goal and to getting more women the mammograms and treatment they need, in every parish and not just some,” she said.
Cancer is one of two priority non-communicable diseases targeted by the CHASE through the organisation’s Health portfolio. Since inception, the portfolio has recorded 3,008 approvals for the sector totalling $6.84 billion as at August 31, 2026.
Support for cancer care spans the full continuum of care, including:
- Treatment infrastructure: CHASE partnered with the National Health Fund and the Tourism Enhancement Fund to establish Jamaica’s two national cancer treatment centres at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, which opened in November 2017, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kingston, which followed in 2018.
- Early detection: The Fund has supported the Jamaica Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Prevention Programme to provide about 1,000 free mammograms for women aged 40 to 75, funded cancer screening at community health fairs, and in 2025 was title sponsor of the Society’s “Early Detection Saves Lives” Radio Telethon, which raised funds for a new mammogram machine.
- Support for patients: In 2025-26, the Board approved $42.6 million in medical assistance for 107 people diagnosed with cancer or End Stage Renal Disease. The Fund also supports palliative care at the Consie Walters Cancer Care Centre.
- Training and research: CHASE funded a five-year oncology nursing programme for the radiotherapy units, has awarded scholarships in radiation oncology and radiation therapy, and approved $35.7 million for breast cancer research at the University of the West Indies.
