FEED The Fight (FTF) Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation is promoting breast cancer awareness all year round.

The foundation, started by philanthropist and breast cancer survivor Yvonne Dunkley, has taken several strides to raise awareness about breast cancer in Montego Bay and the rural areas of St James and more recently, in Westmoreland.

“We do not believe that people should hear about breast cancer only during breast cancer awareness month as persons get diagnosed with the illness every day,” expressed public relations officer, Shelleka Powell.

The foundation has been active for the past year, giving women the opportunity to get mammogram screening done for half-price at the MoBay Hope Medical Centre.

“Many said it couldn’t be done even workers in the organisation, but after Dunkley [the founder] shared her experience with breast cancer, MoBay Hope agreed to enter a one year contract with us to have women do their mammograms half off through the charity,” Powell stated.

What started as a small effort to raise awareness in the rural areas of Jamaica has now grown and the demand is even greater. FTF is now actively raising awareness in the parish of Westmoreland, where Powell said that the response has been overwhelming.

“Right now, we are booked out. Mrs Dunkley, who is our main spokesperson, having survived the illness, can be found on any given day educating workers in banks, stores and government organisations. Soon she will be hitting the schools,” Powell said.

The charity recently started a programme inviting Jamaicans in the Diaspora to assist by adopting a Jamaican woman and paying for her mammogram.

“It was Mrs Dunkley’s idea. Like her, many Americans cannot believe that in Jamaica we have to pay over $7,000 to get our mammogram done when they get it done for free”, Powell stated.

Like most non-profit organisations, FTF struggles financially to keep afloat and is suffering from alack of volunteerism.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for Mrs Dunkley and her passion for this cause, we would have given up already. The travelling to raise awareness and the expense it incurs is more than we anticipated and only a few persons are willing to sacrifice the time this demands,” Powell said, adding: “Thanks to our founder, we have come to accept that, through faith, all things are possible.”

The foundation will be hosting several activities in an attempt to educate women in the west.

From August 25 to September 20, Monday through Friday, starting at 9:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm, volunteers will be at the Sinclair’s Bargain Centre in Savanna-la-Mar registering women to get their mammograms and pap smears done.

On September 27 at 7:00 pm, the FTF will host a grand breast cancer awareness gospel concert featuring a talk-back session with a radiologist from the USA at the Manning’s High School; and on the morning of September 28 the foundation will collaborate with the Jamaica Cancer Society for a mammogram drive at the Savanna-la-Mar Clinic.