Dubai: At least 11 cancer patients will get their full treatment covered at a Dubai hospital after half a million dirhams was raised through a charity event organised by St Mary’s Catholic Church.
The church formally handed over Dh525,000 collected through the initiative to Emirates Red Crescent earlier this week, which will now be used to cover treatment costs of the needy cancer patients belonging to various nationalities and religious background,
The funds were collected through a charity walkathon, ‘Mercithon’, organised by the Church in January. The highly successful charity event attracted over 12,000 people, who helped raise the funds
Mercithon was organised at Dubai Creek Park on January 24 as part of the church’s golden jubilee celebrations and also to mark the UAE’s Year of Giving initiative.
The full treatment for the patients, belonging to nationalities of Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Syria, Morocco and Lebanon, will be offered at New Medical Centre (NMC), according to the church.
A tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Fr Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s Catholic Church, Dubai; Mohammad Al Zarouni, general manager, UAE Red Crescent; and Prashant Mangath and Dr Diab, CEO and head of Oncology, respectively, of New Medical Centre.
Fr Connully said the walkathon was hosted to mark the Golden Jubilee of our Parish “It’s a time to celebrate God’s grace-filled providence, express gratitude to the rulers and people of this nation and pay back to society for all the graces received.”
NMC, as part of its humanitarian activities, is treating needy cancer patients and has pledged to do more for those who cannot afford treatment. The involvement of NMC is targeted at broadening the engagement to bring more needy patients from the parish under the NMC treatment programme.
