Cancer patients and survivors who attend the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) will benefit from an embrace of love – a gift of specially designed bras that are sure to make them feel comfortable and feminine, which were presented to the hospital just ahead of Valentine’s Day.

The gifts are as a result of a partnership between CIBC Caribbean and Sharon Perry of BellePerry, who presented the idea to the bank and sourced the products, which will be available to patients long after the month of love has ended.

Perry explained that people dealing with cancer were usually so focused on issues related to their illness that they were unlikely to spend time searching for such items, but her company, BellePerry, is dedicated to supporting people suffering from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) by finding comfort products and building awareness about their uses.

She added that recently BellePerry embarked on a programme to give away 200 mastectomy bras produced by AnaOno, a United States company and was looking for a donor when CIBC Caribbean was approached with the offer.

Two days before Valentine’s Day, fifty (50) of those bras were presented to the QEH, and CIBC Caribbean’s Director, Personal and Business Banking Channels in Barbados, Mrs. Michelle Whitelaw, thanked Perry for allowing the bank to be part of such an excellent cause.

“It adds beautifully to our Walk for the Cure programme. In fact, we have just come off hosting our Walk for the Cure 2024 season. As you know, the Walk is a Caribbean-wide programme that builds awareness and raises funds for breast cancer,” Whitelaw said.

“This donation of bras comes through our ComTrust Foundation, which directly focuses on our corporate social responsibility by assisting communities in the Caribbean by giving back to worthwhile causes,” she explained.

“After surgery, women still want to feel feminine and look good, so these are great and anyone can wear them”, Whitelaw observed.

Perry explained that they were created by a cancer survivor, Dana Donofree, who after a mastectomy with reconstruction found traditional bras didn’t fit, and her wide search failed to discover one that met her needs.  She used her experience as a fashion designer to create suitable designs that were comfortable for the wearer and made women look and feel beautiful.

They are without the traditional underwire that causes pain and discomfort, have no bones and are geared to meet the wearer’s needs based on the procedure they underwent, for instance, the bras have pockets that can be used to place breast prostheses.

Perry added that each bra design carries an inspiring story as they are named after cancer survivors.

The hospital was represented by Senior Nursing Officers, Caroline Arthur, Peaches Beckles and Bernadette Belgrave who thanked the bank for the donation and commended Perry for her efforts in seeking out the products. They said the bras would be beautifully packaged and given to the patients who they were confident would be very happy to receive them.