Hundreds of volunteers taking part in Jasmine’s 20th annual Flag Day collections raised more than $70,000 for the facility.
“Flag Day dates back to the 1920s in the UK,” said Felicia McLean, Jasmine’s director of nursing and operations. “Pretty much, the UK didn’t want to have people continuously out in the streets seeking donations year round and so they passed a law that allowed all the charities to come out on the streets on the same day out of the year. On that day, each charity would come out with their flags and seek donations.”
Jasmine, formerly known as Cayman HospiceCare, has been operating in Cayman for more than 24 years. The charity started its Flag Day collections in 2000. Each year on Grand Cayman, volunteers are deployed to banks, supermarkets and stores from West Bay to Bodden Town. Last year, for the first time, and again this year, volunteers were also collecting on Cayman Brac.
In 2018, after rebranding to Jasmine, the charity moved into a new purpose-built facility on West Bay Road. It specialises in providing end-of-life care through palliative, hospice, in-patient, in-home and holistic services, as well as offering caregiver support.
Jasmine relies heavily on the money raised through its Flag Day for its ongoing patient care.
“It is the largest fundraising activity that we have each year,” said McLean. “We have a target of $70,000 and we always surpass it.”
The money is raised through donations from members of the public over two days, held this year on 21-22 Feb.
“There is corporate support, in that businesses allow their staff to go out and seek donations for us,” said McLean. “Corporate partners also open up their businesses to allow our volunteers to seek donations on their premises. While we do have people who might make a private donation of a substantial amount, the money we raise comes from the public, for which we are extremely grateful.”
All the money collected will go directly toward caring for terminally ill patients, as well as supporting their families.
“Sometimes, a patient might come in and they are in need of treatment and care,” McLean said. “We’ve had patients who are in need of oxygen, but they cannot afford the oxygen tanks. We provide that to them free of cost. But none of this can be done without the support of the community and we are very grateful for their generosity.”
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