DkIT students to raise funds for Cara Centre
THIRD year students from DkIT’s Digital Marketing and Public Relation marketing course are this week hosting a range of virtual events in the hope of raising awareness and much-needed funds for the Cara Cancer Support Centre, Dundalk.
With Covid-19 restrictions still in place, the students had to get creative with their fundraising ideas. They decided to run a series of virtual events to help raise money for their chosen charity, Cara Cancer Support. There are a total of six events, the first of which took place virtually yesterday (Monday), finishing on Monday December 7 with one group hiking up Slieve Gullion.
Taking the theme ‘Challenges for Cara’, the fund raiser centres around the fact that people living with cancer face many different challenges on a daily basis. The students wanted to test themselves by completing a series of challenges too.
‘ The challenges we will undergo throughout the different events will hopefully symbolize the challenges that the people who use the Cara Support Centre experience when living with cancer,’ explained thirdyear student Kerrie McGarrell. ‘Life is never a straightforward journey; it has the tendency to throw curve balls at us when we least expect it.’
Cara Cancer Support Centre is run by volunteers and it offers free support and services to people living with cancer. They provide a supportive environment in a warm, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere where patients and family members can come to find solace and avail of the experience of cancer survivors. The Centre relies heavily on public fundraising and the generosity of the local community. COVID-19 has made it harder but not impossible for charities like the Cara Cancer Support Centre to fund raise.
Anna Brennan of Cara Cancer Support Centre is delighted that the students have chosen Cara Cancer. ‘We really appreciate the efforts of the students in raising much needed funds for Cara Cancer Support Centre. The last eight months have been extremely challenging for everyone. For us in Cara Cancer it has been really difficult to fundr aise. The people of Dundalk and surrounding areas have always been really generous and we need their support now more than ever. We really understand how challenging it must be for the students and lecturers to organize these events; remote from each other and from the campus.’
Each of the six teams have each set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds throughout their individual events. ‘All funds raised from the students’ GoFundMe pages will go towards continuing to provide a safe place for patients and their family members to share their worries/fears, while meeting other people going through similar situations. We can’t express enough how grateful we are to everyone involved in helping us make a difference,’ said Kerrie.