A well-known local Letterkenny woman is making plans to hold her 20th annual Christmas fundraising draw and has no plans to stop there.
Every Christmas for the past two decades Margaret Coyle holds a Christmas draw for local charities with the support of local businesses.
Her fundraising started back in 1998 when she decided to travel to Romania with Hope International to help out in the orphanges.
To date she made ten trips to Romania raising much needed funds and supplies for the orphanages.
When the charity stopped operating in 2007 she decided to host Christmas draws to raise funds for other much-needed causes close to her own heart.
This year all funds will be donated to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Fund.
A Christmas hamper and many other prizes will be up for grabs for only €2 per line.
Daredevil Margaret has also taken on challenges including skydiving and abseiling.
If she isn’t fundraising you can find her running the roads, something she took up over 4 years ago and has never stopped, something which has changed her life for the better.
In May this year she took on the biggest challenge of her life when she ran her first full marathon.
Margaret said “It was the toughest 18 weeks training of my life but determined with the support of friends I got there, passing that line felt like someone opened the gates to heaven to me.
“I am always asked why I do so much fundraising and my response is that there are so many other people worse off than me and I am grateful for my life. With the help of God, I will continue as long as I can.
“Everyone over the years has been so generous to me and always so supportive. I was told once I’m like the taxman who always gets the money,” laughed Margaret.
If you see Margaret down the town, stop and ask her for a €2 ticket. She’ll be delighted you did – and so will you!
