Special Needs Foundation gets yearlong boost

Cayman News | 06/02/2018

100 Women in Finance present a cheque for US$64,476 to its 2017 beneficiary, the Breast Cancer Foundation

(CNS Local Life): The nonprofit 100 Women in Finance (100WF) organisation will be directing all its fundraising activities this year to the Special Needs Foundation Cayman (SNFC). The charitable group is a global, practitioner-driven body that serves more than 15,000 professionals in the finance and alternative investment industries. SNFC, which was established in 2008, is committed to supporting children with a range of special needs across the Cayman Islands.

To date, 100WF has raised more than US$44 million (gross) for philanthropic causes in the areas of women’s and family health, education and mentoring. The Cayman branch aligns its yearly objectives to 100WF’s global theme, which rotates on an annual basis to ensure the greatest impact for local communities. For 2018, the theme is education, stated a press release.

SNFC is embarking on a new initiative to go beyond advocacy and services through the establishment of “Our House”, which will include a physical location to consolidate services and programmes. Key to this initiative is a pilot programme committed to implementation and action, through the development and provision of high-quality inclusive learning services.

By partnering with the Haring Center from the University of Washington’s College of Education, SNFC will bring increased attention and support for early intervention and inclusion. The organisation will be bringing together specialists to form an inclusion team that will offer direct support to reception classes and pre-schools in both the public and private systems. The pilot programme is a three-year commitment and 100WF will be raising funds to help defray the costs of the initiative’s first year.

Susie Bodden, executive leader of SNFC said of their selection as the 2018 charity, “On behalf of all the children and families of the Special Needs Foundation I wish to express our sincere gratitude and excitement for being chosen as the 2018 Cayman beneficiary for 100 Women in Finance. The Special Needs Foundation, aided by this generous support, intends to rapidly increase our impact in Cayman during 2018, most notably with regard to inclusive education. We believe this programme will make a huge difference to the lives of our children.”

Leanne Golding, chair of the Philanthropy Committee for 100WF Cayman, said, “100 Women in Finance is proud to support the Special Needs Foundation Cayman and, in particular, this groundbreaking programme. It is our hope that this initiative will benefit the Cayman Islands community as a whole for many years to come. We look forward to many successful fundraising events and activities together in 2018.”

100WF Cayman, which has more than 600 members, raised more than US$64,000 for its 2017 beneficiary, the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF), through a series of events including the fourth annual Barefoot Beach Gala and the repeat of the extremely successful Corporate Mixology Competition, stated the press release.

Reflecting on 2017, Kim Lund, director of BCF said, “We were honoured and thrilled that 100WF chose us as their beneficiary to support in 2017. All of the monies raised throughout 2017 have been used to fund our wellness programe, which helps people living here in Cayman to get through their breast cancer treatments and beyond. We could not do this work without organisations like 100WF and we are extremely grateful for their support.”

100WF Cayman has a number of events planned for 2018, including the fifth annual Barefoot Beach Gala, which will be held Saturday, 10 March at Royal Palms. Ticket and sponsorship information will be available soon via the 100WF website.