via Jamaica Gleaner

Sagicor Foundation Jamaica, organisers of the annual Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run, has announced that the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) will be the main beneficiary of the 2022 charity road race to be held in February 2022.

Executive Director of the Sagicor Foundation, Alysia White shared that plans are afoot for the execution of Sigma Run 2022, and that the team is excited that the proceeds from the run will benefit the KPH.

“The KPH serves an average of two thousand (2000) Jamaicans a day and the organisation is in dire need of life saving equipment and supplies”, she said, noting that there are several areas of the Hospital that have been identified for support based on the critical needs and the high patient numbers.

Senior Medical Officer at the KPH, Dr Natalie Whylie in responding to the news that the hospital will be a beneficiary shared that she was “elated, excited and blown away.” Whylie explained that even while the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital, being the largest in the secondary healthcare delivery system in Jamaica, has had to continue the delivery of services not just to Jamaicans locally, but also to Jamaicans in the Diaspora.

“We have had to continue managing emergencies. We have had to continue managing inpatient and outpatient management of chronic non communicable diseases which include cancer, so the needs are many and we are grateful to be considered for support”, she said.

While the Sigma Run organisers agree that its 2022 executions will not look anything like it did prior to COVID-19, which saw an average of 25,000 participants strong in New Kingston on race day, the Sagicor Foundation’s Executive Director says there will be many different opportunities and ways for people to get involved and support the run.

Earlier this year, for the 22^nd staging of the signature charity event, the Sigma Run Secretariat executed its first invitational run, which saw approximately 90 runners and wheelchair participants taking part in the event.

According to White, the Sigma Run developed a successful framework for “COVID safe” events in February of this year and is in a good position to up the ante in 2022, all while adhering to all COVID-19 safety and health protocols.

“We developed a successful framework last year to ensure we could execute a ‘COVID safe’ event and the team managed to host our very first invitational road race in New Kingston, along with having a number of official run sites that other participants could use to complete their virtual run,” said White.

Coming out of this year’s execution, the Sigma Corporate Run raised JMD$49 million for its beneficiaries – the Annotto Bay and Port Antonio Hospitals, as well as a one-year programme to get the nation’s children back on track with their education.  White shared that a number of medical equipment have already been procured for the hospitals from the proceeds.

Since 1999, some JMD$500 million has been raised from the Sigma Run, with the kind and tremendous support of Corporate Jamaica, individuals, diaspora groups and various donors, who have made it possible for numerous health, child-related and educational institutions to benefit.

More details on next year’s staging of Sigma Run will be updated on the run’s website sagicorsigmarun.com. Persons can also email the Sigma Run Secretariat at [email protected] or call 876-936-7980-2 for information.