Gratitude

Have you ever taken the time to count your blessings? You will be amazed at the things that are often taken for granted by others that can mean life for you. At the Cffb we are fortunate for the following:

• To have supportive families and friends being instrumental in assisting in realizing the vision of the Cffb for those affected by Cystic Fibrosis (CF) 
• To live in an era of social media so that we can get our messages out to educate people about who we are, why we do what we are doing, how they can help, when we need to do so, and what are the areas of challenge we face as an organization that prohibits us from doing more for those who are afflicted by the illness. 
• That we are gaining recognition locally by the medical fraternity
• That donors, sponsors, and supporters generally recognize that we are doing everything, within limitations, to function as a bonafide charitable entity
• That we have the interactions and advise of the wider global Cystic Fibrosis bodies that keep us focused on and educated about what we should be considering in our fight against CF
• We are able to embark upon another year with teams of excited and thoughtful supporters who will attend our events and activities to ensure that we realize targets set to assist those who suffer from CF

While we say thanks for all you have done in any way for us up until 2017, we look forward to interacting with you during 2018 as we strive to meet and exceed previous targets. We wish you a happy and wonderfully blessed new year. Thank you for being a part of the teams that serve to win victories over CF. 

The 2017 walk/run fundraiser

Every year The Cffb raises funds for those who have to deal with the challenges associated with Cystic Fibrosis [CF]. These funds help the patients and their families better cope with the financial challenges, which are quite high, associated with caring for the illness.

Every year, the foundation has to draw on the willingness of various individuals, groups, and organizations who volunteer in one way or another to help sufferers cope.

Even when assisting those who are ill, there need to be some moments of levity that helps to bring people together. Without exception, our Walk/Run 2017 was again helpful in further building bonds of friendships. See pictures from this year right here! You can look for your friends and colleagues while contemplating how big your group will be for 2018.

The responsibility of a charity

Though a charitable organization's main purpose is not a profit motive, it is important that a businesslike approach is taken to running such an organization in order to ensure continued support from those who serve and those who are served.

What does this mean?

In short, here are a number of aspects the leadership of a charity need to consider.

• The leadership structure and roles are sound with clear lines of authority and responsibilities. 
• There must be great document management and file storage. 
• Meeting minutes need to be out around 72 hours of the last meeting. This so the discussions of the meeting can be expedited in time for the next meeting. 
• Volunteers need to understand that they are accountable for what they have promised to contribute. There really is no room for people to lag. If you're unable to adequately contribute; you may actually be a hindrance rather than a help. 
• You accounting and accountability should be current. Complete with audit reviews on an annual basis. 
• Databases need to be current, these include: volunteers, sponsors, donors, supporters.
• Correspondence must be well managed, stored, and traceable. 
• Meeting participants need to arrive promptly, contribute wholeheartedly, and leave with clarity as to what's required of them by the next time there's a meeting. 
• Training needs to be ongoing, complete with a train-the-trainer program. 
• Budgets should be established to ensure that the organization adequately plans for the needs to further their cause. 

Though this list is not exhausted, you begin to get an idea of the vast responsibility required to ensure the smooth functioning of a charity. 

Volunteers and Supporters can make a difference

If you missed July 4th, 2015 then you missed loads of fun. Our Fun Walk / Run was awesome. While we're still awaiting pictures to come in, we thought we'd share what we had so far right here. Check out these photos.

Fun seekers turned out in their droves. The shirts told the story with the walkers in yellow and the runners in blue; there were a lot of people. Corporate Barbados came out in full support of our cause. We even had some of our overseas supporters fly in for the event. Just saying that this event is growing by leaps and bounds.

Our local government ministers gave their support from a variety of angles. As an organization we sought to do things right, and therefore got approvals for everything from everyone that we needed to make contact with. To say it wasn't a lot of work would not do justice to the event.

Truth be told; we could not have done it if it weren't for our volunteers and supporters (including sponsors). When we get all of our lists rechecked we will put it up on our website. So keep on coming back, we should be able to do many more updates during the rest of the year as we get ready to gear up our planning for the next fund raiser - our now to be annual gala dinner and jazz evening.

Please keep on supporting us as we seek to help others with this illness. We are now getting overseas visitors who have Cystic Fibrosis (CF) making inquiries of us before planning their trip to the island.

Thank you one and all for your amazing support. We truly feel the blessings as we are sure to help those afflicted.

Volunteers - Youth and Finance

Barbados has hope! This statement is due to the caring nature of some of our youth and financial institutions. We at The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Barbados [Cffb] can say this is true, because we have experienced it.

The youth of The St. Michael School and the Frederick Smith Secondary School have joined the volunteer forces of the Cffb as they are preparing their major fundraising initiative for 2015 where proceeds go towards helping the growing numbers of families affected by Cystic Fibrosis [CF]. These youth will be participating in a variety of ways to realize this and will be given certificates for the initiatives within which they participate. This is because the Cffb believes in recognizing the efforts of their supporters, and volunteers are no exception. The volunteer efforts of these students go towards their high school certification on their curriculum.

Corporate entities are more focused on giving back to society, and they are not doing so because they have to, but they genuinely enjoy helping. For this we are thankful at the Cffb, since Royal Bank of Canada [RBC] has graciously offered and tangibly supported our efforts of building awareness and building funds to help those afflicted with CF. We have had a phenomenal time sharing with their team mates who participated in our outreach efforts, and thank them for putting their shoulders alongside ours and really serving. RBC we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with you and we want to publicly thank you for your support, especially when we recognize that you had choices of organizations that you could have chosen to serve. We have found RBC to be an organization that cares. The actions of these groups cements it in our minds that Barbados has hope!