SPECIAL OLYMPICS RAFFLE RAISES €6,000 FOR ATHLETES
APPROXIMATELY €6,000 was raised through a recent ‘Grand Raffle’ in aid of Wexford Special Olympics Club, the proceeds of which will help to fund 23 athletes who will take part in the Ireland Games in June.
The draw, which was doubling as a social event, was originally due to take place at Wexford Golf Club on Friday, March 2 but Storm Emma and huge snowfalls stopped the athletes in their tracks.
However, Chairman Peadar Dempsey said that there was some silver lining to the cloud as All Star camogie player Mags D’Arcy, who was unable to attend that event on its original date, found herself in a position to make it to the rescheduled night.
In total, nine great prizes were raffled off and the winners, in order, were: Alan O’Grady (32’ flat screen TV); Paddy McGuire (music system); Mairead Heffernan (€100 voucher for Kelly’s Hotel); Angela Cassidy (100 voucher for Pettitt’s Supervalu); Ann Cullen (€50 Londis Piercestown voucher); Mark Minihan (six bottles of wine); Kevin Murphy (six bottles of wine); Rose Ebril (two bags of coal from Benson Fuels); and Nicky Murphy (€50 voucher for Woodies).
Mr Dempsey expressed his thanks to Wexford Golf Club for their hospitality, especially chef Emmet Maher who sponsored finger food for the night.
He was very grateful to the large crowd that attended and enjoyed the night and said that the funds raised would make a big dent in the club’s €15,000 target.
The club is holding a number of other fundraisers in the coming months. They will take part in bag-packing at Tesco on April 13. They will have a bucket collection at Wexford’s two Pettitt’s Supervalu stores on April 21 and, finally, they will test out their putting skills with a Golf Classic on June 8.
The 23 athletes travelling to the games include: Kevin Kinsella, Carole Ryan, Darragh Moran - athletics; Dean O’Connor, Shannon O’Farrell Molloy, Carima Murphy - Aquatics/ Swimming; Marian Flood, Jenna Carthy, Sarah Herlihy, Claire Meagher - Basketball; Darby Power - Bocce; Christopher Nolan, Philip Clancy - Pitch and Putt; Paul Keane, Nathan Ferrick, Katie Dixon, Lisa Redmond, Colleen Flood, Lisa McKegney - Artistic Gymnastics; Rosie Murphy, Bridget Cowman, Rebecca Eydt, and Jennie O’Brien - Rhythmic Gymnastics.
The club was founded 13 years ago, following the success of the 2003 World Games in Dublin.