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Scotiabank Cayman Islands handed over CI$50,000 to the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, representing funds raised from the 5th Annual Power of the Purse fundraiser held on March 22 at The Ritz-Carlton.

“The objective of Power of the Purse was to create an opportunity to celebrate women in the local community while providing a forum to network, become inspired and give back; and I am happy to say we have accomplished this,” said Dwight Burrows, managing director, Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Limited.

Chairman of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre Denise Gower said the centre, which serves all three islands, needs CI$750,000 annually to provide food and cover utility costs and salaries. This will enable the centre to provide shelter and another program to support an increasing number of women and children who are seeking lives free from domestic violence.

“The government provides approximately 50% of our operational requirements, so this donation from the Scotiabank Power of the Purse over the past five years has helped us tremendously in meeting the growing demand for our services,” she said.

Gower noted a positive mental shift in how women are responding to domestic violence. “We are seeing an increasing number of women coming forward for support. They are increasingly saying ‘no more. This is an ideal result, however, we are constantly aware of the need for more resources to cover this increasing demand.”

The current shelter facilities can only accommodate female survivors and their children, but Gower said that the organization is looking at more ways to provide services for male survivors. She added that the statistics on domestic violence are similar to those in the United States, where one in every four women is abused and one in every seven men is abused.

The Crisis Centre recently launched its Kids Helpline to provide support to children in distress, experiencing situations such as bullying or thoughts of self-harm. The Crisis Centre also operates a Teen and Young Adults (TAYA) after school program. Gower said, “The vision is to close our doors forever, so we are focusing on empowering teens to create healthy relationships as a means of reducing domestic violence.”

Over 500 members of the Cayman Islands community supported the Scotiabank Power of the Purse fundraiser which featured bestselling US author Amanda Lindhout as a guest speaker.

EY Cayman Ltd., Gold Sponsor of the Power of the Purse, is in its fifth year of collaborating with Scotiabank on the event. “We are honoured to support the Power of the Purse luncheon,” said Dan Scott, EY regional managing partner. “We recognize the importance of the work the Cayman Island Crisis Centre does and we’re proud to support them as they empower, educate and enhance the lives of women. This aligns with EY’s overarching theme for International Women’s month this year, #SheBelongs, and with our global platform that engages our people, our clients and our communities to advance gender equality, ‘Women. Fast forward.”

Other sponsors included EY, founding sponsor Baraud, Cayman First, Celebrations, Island Heritage, Pinnacle Media and Walkers.

Source: Cayman Compass