The Walk with Winnie fundraiser held on Saturday at Crossroads, Killygordon has raised over €19,200.
The walk was organised to remember the tragic loss of local woman, Winnie Callaghan (nee Scanlon), who died after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
It was held on Saturday to coincide with ‘Climb with Charlie’ after Charlie Bird announced he would climb Croagh Patrick with family and close friends in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease and Pieta House.
Winnie’s daughter, Cathy, was inspired by Charlie and organised the walk to raise funds for the same charities.
Cathy then posted on the ‘Walk with Winnie – Climb with Charlie’ Facebook group yesterday saying:
“Well, where do we begin… We just want to say a massive thank you to everybody who made yesterday possible and a great success. There was over 700 people who attended yesterday’s Walk with Winnie where we managed to raise €19,214 so far!
We are in absolute shock and completely overwhelmed by the generosity of everybody who took the time to come out to walk and donate to such a worthy cause.”
“Yesterday was such a beautiful day, we know that Winnie was looking down on us all and making sure the weather stayed good!
“To all our sponsors for their generous donation of food and materials, Alice Bonner- Andies Supermarket B&S Credit Union, Maguires Shop Stranorlar, Nomadic Dairy, Aurivo Donegal, Conkers Restaurant, Dromore National School and Crossroads and Killygordon community playgroup.
To SLG Traffic Management Ltd (Patrick Griffin) for the use of cones and signs.
To Fr. Patsy Arkinson for the use of the Parochial Hall and carpark. Also to Nomadic dairy for the use of their carpark.
To CurraghAthletic FootballClub for providing a room for meetings.
To Red Hughs GAA for the use of their tables.
To Elaine Tinney who was the paramedic on the day.
To Killygordon & Crossroads Gun club for providing Stewards and also everybody else who was a steward.
To Eugene Marley for the use of the Speaker phone.
To Finn Valley Voice for their media coverage.
“A massive thank you to all the neighbours and friends who contributed so much for the Walk With Winnie. From the Baking of buns and pastries, the delicious sandwiches, the lovely cups of tea and Coffee, the donation of biscuits and cakes, we are truly blown away by the massive amount of effort and organisation that everybody has put in to make yesterday possible.
“To all the lovely ladies who made the tea and coffee and organised all the sweet treats. To everybody who attended the meetings and came earlier on the day to set everything up. To everybody who attended and completed the walk. As it’s not possible to thank everybody individually, please take this thank you from us as an appreciation of your hard work!
“To finish off, on behalf of the Callaghan/ Scanlon Families, we are overwhelmed by the amount of support provided by our community in remembrance of Winnie. For a lady who was so involved with the community, it is wonderful to see that she has left a great legacy and is so well remembered by everybody in the Finn Valley area and beyond. We know she was with us all yesterday, looking down with pride at everybody there. Thank you all so much and we hoped you all enjoyed yesterday!”
To donate, click here.
