Galway’s Declan McEntee decided to do something for charity to mark the occasion of his 60th birthday.
With this in mind he established “The lucky 60 foundation for Console” because, he says, all funds raised are spent locally, the charity is underfunded by the Government, and the charity is strained by pressure on its resources.
Having met Console’s project manager Margaret Tierney, who explained that the charity dealt with an unfortunately growing problem of suicide, particularly among young people, he knew this was the charity for him.
“ Having met with Margaret I could see that here was an individual who was totally dedicated, above and beyond the call of duty, to helping the unfortunate people and their families who are victims of this scourge in our present day society,” says Mr McEntee.
“ I believed that anything I could do to assist this modern day Florence Nightingale would be worthwhile.
“Initially I planned a golf am/am, but this spread to coffee mornings, raffles and a football competition, and I began to realise I had bitten off a bit too much for one person when my good friend, the late great Brendan Dowling, suggested I should look for some assistance.”
Brendan Dowling, Pa Spellman of East United, Val Groarke and his family all came on board and the group managed to raise €6,700.
“ I cannot express enough the enormous personal satisfaction I felt at being able to do this while enjoying my 60th at the same time. It would be wonderful if somebody out there would take up the baton for 2014.”
Mr McEntee says it can be an individual or a group of individuals who can get together to organise it.
“Why not a group of friends who grew up together re-uniting for a bit of crack and a walk down memory lane while at the same time helping a very worthy charity? Believe me, the satisfaction they will get out of this is memorable.”
Any individual or groups interested in organising an event can contact Declan 087-7412495, e-mail [email protected], Margaret Tierney 087-7978130, or e-mail [email protected].
