Celebrate Cian Weekend
Sometimes events take on a life of their own and the Celebrate Cian weekend in Aughnacliffe, Co. Longford was a great example of this.
Family and friends of Cian Smith, who had his wish to go to Disney Florida granted in 2010 organised a beautiful fun-filled weekend last March in his memory.
They held a Come Dine With Me event on the Friday in a local hotel which was so successful that they had to run it again on Saturday too!
Cian's friends took part in a football match on the Sunday, Cian was a keen sports player and fan, and it was fitting that both the Sam Maguire and the Liam McCarthy Cup were in his home town.
The whole community gathered together to celebrate Cian’s life over the weekend which ended with a touching finale of a bunch of Make-A-Wish balloons being released into the sky by his sister Áine.
Christine Collins got in touch about the event early in 2013, with the thought that it might raise about €3,000. However, the event just kept getting bigger and raised ten times that amount, with a cheque for €30,000 presented to Martina from Make-A-Wish in May.
Special thanks to the Smith Family and to Christine (who gave birth to twins just a few weeks later!) for making a difference to the children on our waiting list by using this lovely tribute to Cian to raise funds for Make-A-Wish.
Waterford Quiz Night
Brianna Connaughton and her sister Aideen, our lead volunteers for Waterford, hosted a table quiz in January for Make-A-Wish.
The sisters organised the event within a couple of weeks, and spread the word about it through family and friends - by text message, Facebook and through the local press and radio station.
21 teams of four people took part, at €10 a head, and we hear that competition was fierce on the night!
They spread the word about the night through family and friends, by text message, Facebook and through the local press and radio station.
Local businesses, like jewellers, hotels and restaurants, off-licences, bookshops and gyms all kindly donated prizes for the raffle and auction.
The night raised €1,166.10 for Make-A-Wish. We're very grateful to all involved for this.
Dunshaughlin Weight Loss Challenge
Make-A-Wish supporter Tony Flynn had an idea in 2012 which ended up raising more than €21,000 for Make-A-Wish!
Tony gathered together a group of friends who set themselves the task of losing weight and raising money for the charity at the same time.
The group split up into four teams - Blue, Green, Red & Yellow and the competition to see who could lose the most weight was on! They all kept track of their progress through regular weigh-in nights, and kept in touch to encourage each other with the challenge.
Over the next three months, the group held a variety of fundraising events, including a Cheltenham Preview Night, a Dog Agility Competition, a Pantomime and an auction of sports memorabilia. Tony also worked hard to secure sponsorship from local businesses, like Peak Fitness where the group pumped iron to help them shift the pounds, and Champagne Beauty where the ladies were pampered to help them get ready for the celebration night.
The group asked their families and friends to support them also, and raised a large portion of their sponsorship through the website MyCharity.ie
The finale night was held in Glow, in Dunshaughlin and the place was packed! There were huge cheers for all of the group, especially the winning Yellow team and the overall winner Mark O'Connor. Tony made a very heart-felt speech thanking everyone who had been involved which got a round of applause and brought tears to a few eyes.
Make-A-Wish is very grateful to Tony, all of the challengers and their supporters for the impact they have had on our work this year.
Thank you!
