Elber and crew light up the lives of so many who need help
ALMOST €150,000 RAISED IN PAST FIVE YEARS IS TESTAMENT TO DEDICATION OF HARD-WORKING FUNDRASING TEAM
DUHALLOW woman Elber Twomey and her Trojan fundraising team have raised just shy of €150,000 over the past five years.
The whopping sum will support mental health charities and hospitals who give a ‘ home from home’ experience when illness strikes families.
Elber suffered immense personal pain when her entire family were wiped out by a suicidal driver in 2012 in the UK. Elber lost her husband Connie, her 18-month-old son Oisin and unborn daughter, Elber Marie. Along with the hugely immense personal and emotional pain, Elber also suffered severe physical pain which required 18 separate operations.
Despite all of this, Elber has shown a level of kindness and faith that is beyond any depth of measurement.
This year was the fifth Twomey Family Remorial, which was held in Meelin and Rockchapel. Along the way, there were plenty of laughs at the football and quizzes held and the cycle race in Rockchapel, but equally so plenty of tears remembering, as Elber poignantly says how “Life is so very precious”.
Money has been raised for the hospitals who looked after the family after the crash, and for Bru Columbanus in Cork, where Elber and her brother, Tomas, stayed for a number of weeks before Con passed way. Bru Columbanus provides ‘ home from home’ accommodation for relatives of seriously ill patients.
They have also fundraised for St Joseph’s Foundation in Charleville and for suicide support groups Pieta House, Suicide Aware, Cork; ReachOut, Walk In My Shoes and Cork Samaritans.
This year, Chief Superintendent Jim Nye from Devon and Cornwall Police got to savour Duhallow hospitality and he also got the royal treatment at Elber’s home where he had lunch with family and friends. However, he had to put in a bit of brain power as he took part in the quiz which was hugely enjoyable and he also offically declared the cycle race in Rockchapel open.
With a smile, Elber said, as well as the Twomey Family Remorial in Meelin and Rockchapel, her friends Nigel and Gillian also held the Twomey Family Remorial taxback.com run in Kilkenny and Norma O’Connor from Rockchapel also held a Twomey Family Remorial ‘funday’ in Holland.
“All of this has been absolutely amazing and I honestly think Con, baba Oisín and the Little Lady must be smiling down on all of these events in their honour. I really want to thank everyone who helped out, whether it was making sure the fundraising events went off smoothly to, of course, the fundraising team themselves. I am very proud of them and couldn’t do this work without the support of so many people in Duhallow and beyond,” said Elber.