Shak’s Hope Marks 10 Years of Sickle Cell Awarness & Advocacy
A Daughter's Legacy Inspires Action as Shak's Hope Celebrates 10 Years of Advocacy, Awareness and Hope
PLANTATION, Fla. — Ten years after losing her daughter to complications from sickle cell disease, Andrea Hall-Brown stood before supporters Saturday at Volunteer Park with a message rooted in grief, service and resolve. Shakira Martin’s mission is still moving forward.
Shak’s Hope
The Shak’s Hope 10th Anniversary Casino Royale drew Plantation Mayor Nick Sortal, community leaders, health care professionals, corporate partners, sickle cell warriors and families. The event provided an evening focused on sickle cell awareness, education and the importance of knowing one’s sickle cell status.
Shak’s Hope was founded in January 2016 by Miss Jamaica Universe 2011 and sickle cell advocate Shakira Martin. The organization aims to help normalize sickle cell trait testing across Caribbean, African and American diaspora communities. Months after launching the organization, Martin died after a lifelong battle with the disease. Her mother, Hall-Brown, carried the work forward and turned loss into advocacy.
What began as support for fewer than a dozen families has grown into an organization serving more than 600 families annually across Jamaica and South Florida.
Shak’s Hope provides educational resources, caregiver support, patient advocacy, medical equipment for sickle cell treatment units in Jamaica and year-round outreach aimed at equipping families with lifesaving information.
“Ten years ago, I promised my daughter that her voice would never be silenced,” Hall-Brown, executive director of Shak’s Hope, said.
“Tonight is a celebration of every family we’ve served, every child we’ve encouraged and every life we’ve touched. While we celebrate how far we’ve come, our work is far from over. Every person who learns their sickle cell status is another step toward changing the future for generations to come. My hope is to double the number of people we serve and the number who know their status by 2030.”
Shak’s Hope 10th Anniversary Casino Royale
Guests took part in casino-style gaming, live entertainment, special performances and conversations with health care professionals and members of the sickle cell community.
Proceeds from the event will support Shak’s Hope’s education programs, patient assistance initiatives and advocacy work in Florida and Jamaica.
“Living with sickle cell can sometimes feel like you’re fighting a battle that others can’t see,” one Shak’s Hope participant said. “This organization gave me more than information. It gave me a community that understands, supports and reminds me that I am never fighting alone.”
Health care professionals at the event emphasized the importance of early education and testing. They said knowledge of sickle cell trait status can help families make informed health care and family planning decisions. Furthermore, it can reduce the disease’s impact on future generations.
By the end of the night, organizers said the fundraiser had become more than an anniversary celebration. It was a public recommitment to Martin’s vision: turning awareness into education, education into action and hope into lasting change for families affected by sickle cell disease.
- Sponsors and community partners: Novo Nordisk, Genetix, Memorial Healthcare System, Sickle Cell Disease Research, Agios and Grace Foods USA
- Families represented: Nearly 700
“Ten years ago, Shakira Martin left this world, but tonight proved her mission never did. Family, friends, patients and supporters gathered not only to celebrate her life, but to ensure that generations to come will know their status, understand the disease and carry forward the hope she inspired.”
The gathering underscored the legacy, measurable impact and growing community behind Martin’s work. What began in 2016 as one young woman’s drive to make sickle cell awareness hard to ignore has grown. It is now a movement across two countries and hundreds of families.
For Hall-Brown, the evening was not about casino tables or prizes. Instead, it was about ensuring more families are empowered with knowledge before tragedy has the chance to introduce itself.
