(Grand Cayman, 30 April 2012) On the 24^th, 25^th and 26^th of April, the Island Heritage Roundabout was the centre of widespread attention during the first annual CharityDrive, an innovative campaign to raise funds for three worthy Cayman charities.

CharityDrive engaged the public in an exciting, new way to help Island Heritage donate up to $10,000 each to The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, Meals on Wheels Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Humane Society over the three consecutive days.

The National Roads Authority provided traffic sensor counters to accurately record the number of cars that drove past the Island Heritage Roundabout between 7am and 7pm and, for every car recorded, Island Heritage donated one dollar to that day’s highlighted charity.

 

In addition to driving past the Roundabout, the public could help support the three charities in two other ways. They could visit the Island Heritage Facebook page and click a support link or mention @charitydriveky on Twitter. Each of these methods triggered another dollar donation by Island Heritage.

Each charity provided a team of enthusiastic volunteers who were stationed at various entry points to the Esterly Tibbetts Highway to direct Cayman drivers toward the Island Heritage roundabout.

On day one, supporters were delighted to be greeted by a volunteer in a blue iguana suit upon passing the Roundabout. Regular radio spots on z99 helped the momentum to build throughout the day and, by 7pm, the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme had reached its $10,000 goal

“This funding comes at an ideal time as we can match it with some other corporate donations and it will enable us to move forward on several fronts now,” said Fred Burton, Director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Program. “There’s a good buzz going around about this event. It was really well designed and I love that it offered ways for so many people to feel involved.”

Day two saw a buzz on the road and on the web with Caymanian celebrity Selita Ebanks tweeting and encouraging her twitter followers to support Meals on Wheels, which also reached its $10,000 goal by the end of the day.

“Our organisation will forever by grateful to Island Heritage and its staff for the incredible job they did by getting the whole island involved to support the seniors we feed with Meals on Wheels,” said Beulah McField, co-founder and Director of Meals on Wheels Cayman Islands.

For the final day of CharityDrive, Humane Society volunteers brought some of the shelter’s residents to join in the fun. Drivers on their way to the Roundabout were greeted with wagging tales and smiling faces to remind them who the funds were going to support. With the support of the Cayman public, the Humane Society was also able to meet its $10,000 goal.

“The Cayman Islands Humane Society is delighted to have been chosen as one of the three charities to participate in the first annual Island Heritage CharityDrive. This was a wonderful opportunity to elevate the community’s awareness of the three charities and the work we do,” said Carolyn Parker, Humane Society spokesperson

The “Drive” was very exciting as we organised our volunteers to participate and raise funds for the animals. We sincerely appreciate the support of Island Heritage – allowing us to continue our work of helping homeless animals and finding new homes for them.”

The campaign was a huge success and exceeded expectations with Island Heritage donating $30,000 total to the three deserving charities

“Island Heritage, its employees and customers are proud to have staged this fun and innovative way to raise money for charity in the Cayman Islands. Using social media as a component of the fundraiser proved a powerful way to raise awareness for the charities while raising funds,” reflected Garth MacDonald, CEO of Island Heritage, after the event. “When we “adopted” the roundabout in 2010, we did so with the intent to give back to the community, and our 2012 CharityDrive builds on that. Given the overwhelming success of this year’s event, we are already planning and looking forward to the 2013 Island Heritage CharityDrive.”

Island Heritage looks forward to continuing to show that they love Cayman ‘in a roundabout way.’

Photo Submitted: CharityDrive cheque presentation.