FirstCaribbean’s Corporate Banking Centre at Rendezvous recently donned their pink shirts, covered their heads and changed roles as they became ‘Pink Vendors‘ for a few hours.

This was one in a series of fund raising initiatives, for the month of October, designed by staff of CIBC FirstCaribbean to raise funds to donate to the Breast Screening Unit of the Barbados Cancer Society. It was part of a region-wide activity of the Bank, an element of the bigger CIBC (Canada) Walk for the Cure programme.

The entire proposal was to raise funds and also create awareness for breast cancer and other cancers affecting employees, their families and friends. Staff at the Bank decided that they would have a pink sale where they sold all things pink from pink sugar cakes to pink lemonade. They also purchased, wholesale, a number of items from the 4H group that is sponsored by the Bank and sold these items to staff. These included wines made of local fruit, hot sauce, tamarinds in syrup and preserved gooseberries among other items.

The Bank has a long-standing sponsorship arrangement with the local 4 H movement and donated funds to develop the various products that they produce. They were also challenged to develop a professional looking label for the products. It is these products with the new label which were sold by the staff at the Pink Sale.

Employees in the various branches and business units also embarked on other innovative ways in which to raise the money for their donation. They held raffles for the CEO’s Parking spot, a Staycation at a local resort as well as for a Kindle Fire, wine basket and decadent chocolate cake among other things. They also held Jeans days where staff paid to wear jeans to work for the day.

The fund-raising started with the Walk for Cure at the Garrison in early October and the total amount raised will be tallied and presented to the Breast Screening unit in early November.