From Seventh- Day Adventist Church

Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church is partnering with Health City’s Have a Heart Cayman Islands to assist children travelling to the Cayman Islands for life-saving heart surgery.

Since its launch in 2014, the non-profit Have a Heart Cayman has brought 132 children to the Cayman Islands for otherwise inaccessible life-saving medical care. They have travelled here from 13 countries, including Jamaica, Haiti, El Salvador, and from as far away as Bolivia and Mongolia. One child was brought from Kenya, all other options having been exhausted in that region.

The Kings Church project is dubbed The Kings Path to Have a Heart, and it aims to fund the cost of the acquisition of passports for travel to the Cayman Islands by the children and, if necessary, their accompanying family members.

Mrs. Jennifer McCarthy, manager of Have a Heart Cayman Islands, explains the initiative to Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kings Church is funding provision of passports for children travelling to the Cayman Islands for life-saving heart surgery.

At the launch of The Kings Path to Have a Heart on Saturday, 22 October, Mrs. Jennifer McCarthy, manager of the Have a Heart Cayman Islands, thanked the Church for its support of the work of the organisation.

“It is such an honour to introduce Have a Heart Cayman Islands to the Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is only with community support like that of this congregation that we will be able to raise awareness,” Mrs. McCarthy said, adding: “We need awareness so parents and doctors of these precious children who need life-saving heart surgery will find Have a Heart and reach out for help.”

The Kings’ initiative is being spearheaded by the church’s Community Services Department, which responds to a range of needs in the community. According to Mrs. Stephanie Jackson, Community Services Leader at Kings Church, services include assistance to fire victims, emergency relief for those requiring urgent medical care, aid for families and children in need of various types of support, such as back-to-school supplies, food and clothing, among other basic provisions.

The Kings’ pledge to the Have a Heart Cayman Islands coincided with the annual community outreach in all Adventist Churches, the annual “Harvest Ingathering” exercise, that formally begins on Saturday, 5 November. A percentage of contributions from the public to the Harvest Ingathering drive will remain with individual churches for use in their community services’ initiatives, such as The Kings Path to Have a Heart.

In her presentation to the Kings Church, Mrs. McCarthy said that all funds contributed to Have a Heart go directly to the care and needs of the beneficiaries; no funds are diverted to cover costs of administering the fund.

Mrs. McCarthy said the inspiration for the philanthropic initiative sprang from a chance meeting more than 20 years ago between Mr. Harry Chandi, an Indian entrepreneur now residing in Cayman, and a volunteer raising funds for children needing inaccessible heart surgery.

Four months after that meeting, Mr. Chandi and other like-minded individuals, including Dr. Devi Shetty, came together to start Have a Heart India. To date, more than 10,000 Indian children – who would not otherwise have afforded such medical procedures – have since received life-saving heart surgeries through the efforts of Have a Heart India.

Mr. Chandi and Dr. Shetty went on to establish Health City Cayman Islands, subsequent to which they co-founded Have a Heart Cayman Islands in 2014. Mr. Chandi, who is also a director of the Health City project, serves as chairman of Have a Heart Cayman Islands.

Have a Heart Cayman partners with local and international organizations such as Health City

IMAGES:

Ms Dian Reid, right, presents a token of appreciation to Manager of Have a Heart Cayman Islands Jennifer McCarthy following her presentation on the initiative to Kings Church. The church has undertaken to fund passports for children travelling to the Cayman Islands. Centre is Mrs. Stephanie Jackson, Community Services Leader at Kings Church.

Mrs. Jennifer McCarthy, manager of Have a Heart Cayman Islands, explains the initiative to Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kings Church is funding provision of passports for children travelling to the Cayman Islands for life-saving heart surgery

For more on this story go to: http://www.caymanadventist.org/home8/caymanad/public_html/archives/16985