You may not have heard of the Lady Cubitt Compassionate Association (LCCA), but chances are if you were ever in need they’d be one of the first places to turn.The LCCA has been servicing the community for the last 80 years. Through a general assistance programme they help scores of single mothers in need of grocery vouchers and seniors unable to pay their electricity bills.The organisation has also been helping patients without adequate insurance get emergency medical treatment overseas, through no interest loans, since 1950.The LCCA will be hosting a tag day on Friday — with volunteers stationed at various locations throughout Hamilton. On Saturday they will be collecting money at spots around the Island, including King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Paget and Lindo’s Family Foods in Warwick.Veronica Harvey, the charity’s executive director, said this was their biggest fundraiser for the year and typically raised between $15,000 and $16,000. However, tag day donations cover only a portion of what’s needed to run the general assistance programme, which costs $100,000 each year.Ms Harvey said due to the challenging economy, donations have “dropped off a bit”, while demand for services has “noticeably increased”.She encouraged the public to give whatever they could and said “every penny counts”.“When you look at the paper in terms of people losing jobs, you have more of the average person who is going to be in need.“So we just encourage people who do have jobs and earn income to consider those who don’t and those who maybe stretched to make ends meet [and] while they can give please do so generously.”Most people find out about the LCCA through word of mouth, but the tag day also does a good job of promoting the organisation.Managing Committee Chairman delMonte Davis said: “The tag day is a wonderful way of reminding people of one of the LCCA’s functions and I think that works very well.”Denise Astwood, a committee member, said it was wonderful seeing people they have helped in the past come back to volunteer at tag days.“Often if you are standing out there on the street corner with your tags people will come up and say ‘Oh you helped my family’ and they will put money in and that happens year after year, which is lovely really, because we are really quiet essentially.“When you are dealing with people in distress you don’t want to say who we have helped, but people will recognise it, particularly on tag day I think.”Back in its early days, charity founder Lady Cubitt would host various events like black tie balls and golf tournaments to raise money. The organisation has since evolved, but is constantly striving to cultivate new interest and keep its mission alive.All monies raised in the tag day will go towards the general assistance programme. The patient’s overseas financial aid scheme — which helps people in medical emergencies like premature births or suffering from heart conditions — is entirely Government funded.Mr Davis said: “Very often those emergency calls come in 11pm or an untimely hour, but through the medical committee the decision is made and an airlift is arranged in a matter of hours and they are sent away for medical treatment. That’s often a $20,000 commitment that most families don’t have otherwise.”According to Ms Harvey, the charity is “constantly challenged” when it comes paying their bills in a timely fashion, since their grant was reduced by 50 percent.“We have also had to be selective in terms of which clients are able to travel overseas for medical treatment. Sometimes we have had to look at the more critical cases for sending overseas,” she explained.In order to maintain the programme, Ms Harvey said it was important for patients and their families to repay the loans.“What government gives us is not enough to fully fund that programme and keep it going. We need to have the funds regenerate and roll over so the programme can continue to exist and help other people.”According to Ms Astwood, the LCCA tries to cover a variety of needs in the community.She said: “We try and find things that haven’t been done before. The thing about the LCCA is because we are not specifically for, let’s say curing measles, we have a certain leeway and can make a decision within the committee about what we are going to do.“So we have had projects like [financing] the pilot outpatient programme at the hospital, so patients could go home and just come back to the hospital on a weekly basis for their therapy.“We also supported a reading programme in schools and a pilot educational summer camp, so when we have a large sum of money from international business we say this is the sort of thing that can be taken up later on by someone else, but try the pilot programme and see if it’s a success or not.”The LCCA is also looking for volunteers to help for isolated times during the tag days; those interested should call 292-1132.