CUMI COME RUN 2010 LAUNCHED....This year's target - $3million

No. 130 Friday, August 20, 2010
By Volney Barrett and Phillip Green
The Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI) headquartered in Brandon Hill, Montego Bay is aiming to raise $3 million from its second annual CUMI Come Run, scheduled for Monday, October 2, 2010.

  CUMI Nurse Administrator, Joy Crooks, made the revelation in an address to scores of sponsors, contributors and participants who had gathered at the launch of the run at the Secrets Hotel and Spa in Montego Bay on Wednesday.
   “The principal of the trust fund, she said, was increased by $2 million from last year’s come run. This year, we are hoping to raise $3 million because that $3 million will bring the trust fund’s interest nearer to the $300,000 that we need monthly to meet all our expenses,” Nurse Crooks said.
   According to her, their goal is “to build the trust fund to ensure sustainability of the services that CUMI provides to the community through the CUMI day centre.”
   CUMI, now in its 19th year, is a non-government organization that serves the poor and homeless in St. James.
   “In 2009, the newly formed CUMI Come Run fundraising committee which was previously headed by the late Elizabeth Hall - a chairperson and one of the founding members of CUMI; her daughter, Jacqueline Hall-Hamilton now heads that committee and they launched the CUMI Come Run, the administrator noted.
   She added that: “With the board of directors, we were able to raise funds and put into action a way that the benefit targeted the mentally ill that we served. Last year, the CUMI come run increased the Trust fund from which we gain our income.”
   This year’s fun run will take the form of a 10K run and a 5K walk that will be hosted on the grounds of Tryall Golf Course in Hanover.
   As she expressed thanks to the many donors, she said that the trust fund is set up in such a way that it provides CUMI with one-third of what they need at present to run the day centre and the services of rehabilitation.
   “The success of that ‘Come Run’ combined with the effort of the general community, the corporate entities and all the supporters and fundraisers, helped CUMI,” Nurse Crooks added.
   Communications service provider, Flow Jamaica, has come on board to assist in the staging of the CUMI Come Run. This year, they will be providing a total of $1M in cash and prizes to this effort.
   According to Denise Williams, Public Relations Manager, the winner of the run will receive one year’s flow digital cable service; and there will be other prizes.
   She also revealed that they will focus on garnering greater exposure that for the run via their Flow network and specifically via Channel 100. We plan to have our media team capture, record and showcase to all of Jamaica, the importance of CUMI. And the Sandals Foundation presented a cheque of $200,000.