Minister Harmon pledges $500,000, personal support to Beacon Foundation

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, on Friday paid a visit to the Beacon Hospice at Thomas and New Market Streets, Georgetown where he made a personal pledge of $500,000 among other forms of support to the charitable organisation.
Noted for providing home-care, counselling and other forms of support services to persons who are diagnosed with cancer, this Hospice, run under the auspices of the Beacon Foundation, caters primarily to women and children who come into Georgetown for treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and at other privately run hospitals.
The Hospice aims to reduce the burden of travelling and the associated costs. All services are provided free of cost to the patient (s), including accommodation and

meals.
As well as paying the wages of its employees, the entity puts all the profits from its food catering operations to fund its programmes, and takes pride in the fact that it is the only totally self-sustaining charitable organisation in the country.
During his visit, Minister Harmon said he first learnt of the Foundation several years ago, after his brother was diagnosed with cancer. At that time, the Foundation provide nurses who not only administered treatment, but also provided counselling to his sibling.
The Minister noted that even though some time had elapsed, he is inspired by the Foundation’s work, and believes that the nurses and care-providers of the organisation are “the unsung heroes.”
“I believe that you all are the unsung heroes, because, many times we see acts of charity being publicized, but this organisation has not been one to do so; but yet your work is out there and that is because of the difference that you are making; it speaks for itself. Quietly you have been working,” he said.
The care-givers travel every week to five regions: Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region Three), Demerara-Mahaica (Region Four), Mahaica-Berbice (Region Five), East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six), and Upper Demerara-Berbice (Region Ten) to provide welfare support and pain medication to clients at least once per month, or the Hospice provides care for 86 cancer patients currently.
Senior Nurse at the facility, Bibi Salim, said the organisation tries as best as possible to ensure that patients are treated with love and care during their times of pain and struggle, as Director Dr. Kian Jabour said it operates with the motto, “No cancer patient should die in pain, or it should be minimal pain.”
The Foundation already benefits from an exemption of corporate taxes as well as support from the Ministry of Public Health.