2014 March Against Cancer adds two more sponsors

Brabu Pharmacy owner/manager Theodore Baker, center, gives a $1,000 check to 2014 Marianas March Against Cancer committee chair Manny Borja along with Brabu staff and MMAC committee members. (Contributed Photo)

Brabu Pharmacy and Island Apparel are once again sponsoring this year’s staging of the Marianas March Against Cancer.
Manny Borja, 2014 MMAC committee chairman, said both companies are returning sponsors this year.

“The MMAC committee is very grateful that the sponsors have committed to supporting this battle against cancer in the CNMI,” he said.

Brabu Pharmacy donated a total of $1,000 as a major sponsor for the MMAC, while Island Apparel is a title sponsor, providing in-kind donation likes discounted shirt prices.

Brabu Pharmacy owner/manager Theodore Parker said the company’s donation is merely an expression of gratitude for the people who continue to support Brabu Pharmacy.

“We have been donating to the MMAC and the American Red Cross as a business since we opened in June 2009. It is our position that being part of a community is giving back and this is one of the many ways we like to do that,” Parker said.

He also said that even though they’ve lost several patients this year to cancer, “we fully comprehend the value of the Commonwealth Cancer Association in supporting cancer survivors as well as their families and the community and it is in this spirit that we continue to support this very worthy organization and we plan to do so for years to come.”

Island Apparel owner Ed Calvo said that discounting the shirts to just $4,000 is a big support and donation to the event.

“The cost of the shirts this year is one of the bigger expenditures of the event so we have discounted the shirt as part of our support to the local event,” Calvo said.

The shirts under retail pricing can cost up to $12,000.

“We’re able to reduce their cost and we’re able to help them with the event, and we will put in our best effort to help the event and the community,” he added.

Calvo also noted that a mobile printing station would be set up at the event where participants can order custom-made apparel or accessories.

“Participants can put ‘In-memory-of’ if they want with the name or other accessories, and the proceeds for that will go to the 2014 MMAC,” Calvo said.

The 2014 MMAC will be held on May 2 to May 3, 2014, from 6pm to 6am at the Hopwood Junior High School field in Chalan Piao. It is the signature fundraising event of the CCA.

For more information, contact Borja at 989-1987, email him at emanuel.borja@gmail.com, or visit CCA website at www.ccamarianas.org.