National support charity the Meningitis Trust is urgently seeking volunteers who can give one hour of their time tomorrow to help with the charity's annual Kilkenny Street Collection.
Volunteers will be helping to achieve something positive on the day and also ensure that the trust, Ireland's support organisation, can continue to support families in need in 2011 and beyond.
Meningitis can strike at any time, and affects people of all ages, with children, teenagers/young adults, and the over 55s most at risk. Sadly Kilkenny has been affected, and Kilkenny woman Penny Dwyer, who lost her daughter Melody to the disease in 2008, has kindly shared her story on the Meningitis Trust website www.meningitis-trust.ie/Stories html
The staff of Mini Me crèche in Kilkenny, where Melody attended before her tragic death, will be helping on out Saturday, and are passionate to ensure that every home in Kilkenny has a potentially life-saving 'Signs and Symptoms ’ card.
Help is needed to distribute potentially life-saving Meningitis Trust Signs and Symptoms cards. The more families who have these precious free cards, the better, as knowing the symptoms of meningitis CAN save lives. www.meningitis-trust.ie/documents/symptoms-cards pdf
Proceeds of the street collection will help the trust continue its free services for people affected by meningitis. The trust receives no statutory government funding, and gets just one chance a year to hold a public collection, so any help the public can give on the day would be very much appreciated.
The money raised will be used to provide family support and bereavement counselling, a 24-hour nurse staffed helpline and community nurse services, as well as a wide programme of awareness-raising and education programmes in schools, colleges and the local community. All the services are aimed at reducing the toll of suffering caused by this terrible disease.
Anyone interested in helping should contact Geraldine at 087 9680068/090 6450531 or by email at germills@meningitis-trust.ie, or go to the Ormonde Hotel on Saturday.
