Mission accomplished! The team at CEMIX completed the first Prostate Cancer Warrior Walk in Barbados, affirming our dedication to the Green Hearts for Blue Ribbons campaign. 

Cancer awareness has been a core pillar of CEMIX for over a decade. 

Jason Edwards, General Manager of Cemix shared, “Back in 2014, we launched Green Hearts for Pink Ribbons, our breast cancer awareness and testing initiative in partnership with Barbados Cancer Society, offering free breast screenings to over 300 women across the island.

In 2017, we focused on childhood and paediatric cancer awareness – with our Green Hearts for Gold Ribbons initiative – working closely with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to ensure they had the adequate equipment to treat our nation’s children battling cancer.

As our relationship with The Barbados Cancer Society deepened, we came to learn more about Prostate Cancer and the facts were cause for alarm! For example, over 90% of men diagnosed with Prostate Cancer can survive, and yet not enough men are being tested early enough to save their lives. We learned that having a history of the cancer in your family puts men at higher risk, and that a man’s chances of facing it increase if he’s over 50yrs old.”

With no obvious signs, Prostate Cancer is highest diagnosed in Barbados.

For a disease so daunting, the solution is remarkably simple: Men over 35yrs old should get regular PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests, because early detection is just a prick – affordable and life saving.

In 2014 pink ribbons on spinning cement trucks flooded the highways – we put the message on our trucks to ensure that while we were up and down the roads of Barbados getting work done, we were also doing the work of raising awareness. In 2019 it became clear that there was a new ribbon to add!

With our CEMIX team being male-dominated, we are on a serious mission. It’s time to get loud!

Here’s our plan:

• With every cubic meter of concrete Barbadians buy from Cemix, we’ll continue donating to The Barbados Cancer Society.
• Every year, we will host a bigger and better Prostate Cancer Warrior Walk to bring the community together for the men we love.
• Year round, we will use our channels to raise awareness about the solutions.
• We will rally corporate Barbados to promote PSA testing.

There’s hard work to be done, but as the #1 producer of concrete, we’re confident we can build a strong foundation and make a difference with your help.

This is how we #BuildBarbadosTogether !