An online campaign asking women to post photos of themselves without makeup in a bid to raise awareness for cancer research has made its way to the Cayman Islands, after going viral on Twitter and Facebook last week.
The social media craze ignited in the United Kingdom; where tens of thousands of women flooded news feeds with photos baring all, along with the hash-tag: #NoMakeUpSeflie, and a nomination for friends to follow suit.
The campaign has been the topic of a worldwide cancer awareness vs. narcissism debate but has raised £8 million (CI$10.8 million) in text donations to Cancer Research UK.
“Today you might have seen the fantastic news that the social media trend that started out as #nomakeupselfie, with women posting pictures of themselves without makeup, has raised a staggering £8 million towards our lifesaving research,” according to Cancer Research UK’s website.
The £8 million will be used for 10 clinical trials to find more effective treatments for cancer.
Women urged to take selfies in Cayman
Caymanian Louisa Gibson, who is studying in the U.K., posted a selfie on her Facebook page to help raise awareness.
“I think it is awesome that something so positive can come from something so simple. I was afraid to put my naked face on the Internet for all to see but if it will contribute to someone’s treatment, recovery or quality of life, then why not? I donated £3 to Cancer Research UK, which is not much to ask at all,” she said.
A host of famous women have also posted photographs of themselves on Facebook and Twitter, including the pop starts Beyonce and Rihanna.
The naked faced social media explosion continues, and the Cayman Islands Cancer Society is asking women in Cayman to help raise funds on a local scale, by posting a makeup-free selfie.
The society is encouraging women to donate $25 to the organization to help raise awareness of the disease in Cayman.
Donations to the local Cancer Society have already been made, following the trending campaign.
“A young woman came into our office and asked if she could make her ‘no make-up selfie’ donation to us instead of to the U.K. because she wanted the donation to help people here in Cayman,” said Jennifer Weber, operations manager at the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.
“At that moment we hadn’t yet heard about what was happening on Facebook, so she explained it to us and again stated her intent to have her donation help our community, so we gratefully accepted it.” “More and more women contacted us to ask about how they could keep their donation here, to help Cayman,” she added.
The funds raised will go towards building a new chemotherapy unit to treat local cancer patients.
Ms. Weber said, “It really touched us that so many people felt strongly that they wanted to help this community, and made a special effort to make sure it stayed here. Any charitable act is good because it contributes to the greater good of the world, but with so much need in our community, it’s nice to know people want to help locally.”
The Cancer Society currently helps 78 financial aid patients to receive treatment.
Donating $25 to the Cancer Society will buy a PSA test to screen for prostate cancer.
To donate to the Cancer Society, visit www.cics.ky.
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A really really idiotic idea.
I do not know a single person who is not aware of the existence of cancer, which is not a single disease, but a name of the many bodily malfunctions. It is time to recognize, and it is actually already done on many levels, that bodily malfunctions called cancer stem from your emotions. All these cancer awareness drives are bogus in its core, they are misleading. If you need money to build a new chemotherapy unit, just say so, and not bring cancer awareness and barefaced crap into this. Chemotherapy units extend one’s life and misery and give false expectations. Only those who address their emotional and mental states stand a chance to beat cancer. But nobody is going barefaced to bring awareness to that.