Students at Athlone Institute of Technology presented a cheque for €1,600 to Deputy Nicky McFadden today for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA ).
The students raised the money through organising a fun day for students and staff prior to Easter. Planning and executing the event, entitled Beauty and the Beast, is an integral part of the event management module in their degree.
The fourth year tourism and hospitality management and tourism and sport management students who organised the event are: Abdulaziz Aljohani, Sinéad Barry, Kim Bevans, Orla Breathnach, Anthony Carrig, Thomas Forde, Sinead Kennedy, Lorna Kiernan, Ciarán Mac Eochaidh, Karen Marrinan, Darren McDonald, Aidan Murphy, Conor Skehan, Alona Verseckiene, and Mairead Whitton.
Accepting the cheque, Deputy McFadden thanked the students for raising the funds and said that she hoped they would continue to fundraise for charity.
Lecturer Dymphna Scanlon, said that “Organising this event develops a wide range of skills and competencies - creativity, initiative, teamwork, presentation skills, financial management, and marketing skills. These skills are highly valued by employers and the experience of organising an event such as Beauty and the Beast is an important way of translating theory into practice.”
There are approximately 300 people living with motor neurone disease in Ireland at any one time. On average, one person is diagnosed with the disease every four days. The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA ) functions mainly as a support organisation for people who have MND, their carers and families. In June 2012, Deputy McFadden confirmed that she was diagnosed with the condition.
