Daffodil Day is coming to Westmeath

The Irish Cancer Society is reminding people in Westmeath to save the date for Daffodil Day activities this coming March 25 . The Irish Cancer Society and Dell have announced details of a three year partnership agreement which will see Dell becoming the lead partner for Daffodil Day until 2013. Dell will come on board as principal sponsor of Daffodil Day from 2011 and has committed to a three year partnership. This partnership will provide much needed financial support for the Daffodil Day campaign. All funds raised from this campaign provide a range of free nationwide patient care services. The campaign will be supported by Dell’s 2,200 Irish based employees at their campuses in Cherrywood, south County Dublin and Limerick. In 2010, Daffodil Day raised €3.3million. The target for Daffodil Day 2011 which will take place on Friday March 25 is €3.5 million. The monies raised on Daffodil Day are channelled directly into improving the lives of those living with cancer and their families. Such funds are allocated to the provision of free direct patient services including the staffing of the national cancer helpline, the provision of free home care day and night nursing, the funding of 16 hospital based oncology liaison nurses, financial aid to cancer patients and the opening of three new Daffodil Centres which will provide information, advice and support to patients and families in the hospital setting. Speaking at the photocall to announce the sponsorship, Aongus Hegarty, vice president of Dell EMEA CSMB and the site leader of the Cherrywood Campus, said “Daffodil Day is a very special day on the Irish calendar for everyone – for thousands of volunteers, patients and those involved in cancer care. Dell has a long tradition of supporting Daffodil Day and the Irish Cancer Society through a range of fundraising and volunteering activities. We are delighted to formalise our partnership with this great cause by coming on board as the principal sponsor and look forward to helping to support the society in their ambitions to grow and enhance Daffodil Day over the course of the next three years.” He continued, “Our teams in Limerick and Cherrywood are very excited by this partnership and we look forward to working closely with the Irish Cancer Society and its team to ensure the continued success of this worthy campaign.” The National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI ) estimates that up to 30,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer during 2010 and new cases of cancer are expected to reach over 43,000 new cases in the year 2020. Cancer will affect one in three of us during the course of our lifetime. The biggest risk factor for developing cancer is increasing age followed by lifestyle choices such as smoking, poor diet and inactivity. Therefore early detection is crucial for a good outcome in most cases.