Three decades after opening its doors to people impacted by a cancer diagnosis, the Caribbean non-profit Cancer Support Services is celebrating its milestone anniversary while reaffirming its core commitment to inclusive, non-discriminatory support for all patients, regardless of gender identity.
Organization chairman Carlyle Best made the pledge during a special 30th anniversary commemoration service held Sunday at St James Parish Church in Holetown, St James. In remarks to attendees, Best emphasized that the charity extends its full range of support to every person who reaches out for help, rejecting any gender-based restrictions on access to care. “We do not turn anyone away based on gender,” Best explained. “Whether you identify as male, female, or any other gender, if you have received a cancer diagnosis and come to us for support, we will stand with you every step of the way.”
Best credited the organization’s 30 years of sustained impact and success to the decades-long dedication of its members, volunteers, and community donors, and issued a public call for new support to help the charity expand its reach. He noted that anyone who has navigated a cancer journey, either personally or alongside a loved one, understands the critical gap the organization fills in patient care. “As your local canon observed, recovery is never truly complete without the holistic assistance that this charity provides,” Best added. Alongside practical and emotional support, Best encouraged people living with cancer to draw spiritual strength from their faith during treatment and recovery, urging patients to trust in the guidance of their medical teams and place their trust in God’s plan.
To mark its 30th anniversary, the organization has planned two major public celebratory events open to the community. The first is a concert titled *Inspire*, scheduled for May 3 at the Frank Collymore Hall. The second will be held on Mother’s Day, May 10, at the Covenant Life Teaching Centre, where attendees will be invited to share beloved phrases and lessons passed down to them from their mothers.
During the service’s sermon, Reverend Stevenson Sobers addressed the congregation on the meaning of loving God, reminding attendees that faith calls for recognizing God’s absolute sovereignty over all aspects of life. He reflected on the common human impulse to try to control every outcome of our journeys, noting that many people unconsciously push God aside to try to take charge of their own fates. “Often, we want to ask God to just move out of the way and let me be God sometimes,” Sobers observed. “But our love for God flows from an understanding of His absolute holiness, infinite power and perfect wisdom, and that is a love rooted in awe and reverence.” He added that this foundational love must be demonstrated through consistent obedience and devotion to God’s leading.