A job well done as lunch raises €12,550
HERMOINE Duffy didn’t have to think twice about what charity she would like to support when she was asked to host a fund raising lunch and fashion show in Ballymascanlon Hotel recently in memory of her husband Captain Mark Duffy who died when Rescue 116 crashed off the Mayo coast.
She picked the charity SOSAD as she knew it was one which would be close to her husband Mark’s heart.
‘Mark’s work involved many search and recovery operations and it was something which would have prayed on our minds,’ she recalls. ‘He would come home with heart breaking stories.’
She explains that when Johanna Quinn asked her if she would like to host a charity lunch and fashion show in Mark’s honour, she knew this was the charity she wanted to support.
‘SOSAD do such wonderful work, not just in relation to suicide prevention, as they also offer free bereavement counselling, so they are there for people who are going through really difficult times.’
And, she says, the words So Sad resonate with her since losing her husband and best friend.
‘So sad sums up how I have been these past twenty months. Those two words mean so much for so many people.’
Hermoine expressed her gratitude to all the people who have supported and her two children since Mark’s death.
‘We forget that people are so kind every day. Human kindness is lovely.’
She says she is touched by the kindness of some many people who have reached out and is grateful to all those who supported this event in Mark’s memory.
‘I’d like to thank everyone who came to the event and supported the fundraising in any way,’ says Hermoine.
‘It was a wonderful demonstration of community spirit, with the sponsors giving us Shop Local vouchers for the raffle so that the money stays in the community, and of course, it was the local community who supported it.’
‘I am very grateful to Niall and Johanna Quinn for asking me to host the event,’ she continues. ‘Johnna has held this lunch for a number of years and has raised a lot of money for the Simon Community. It was very generous of them to allow it be held in their venue.’
The event proved a ‘fantastic’ success, raising €12,550 for SOSAD to help the organisation continue its work in suicide prevention and counselling for all those affected by suicide.
‘Mark had a wee phase when they would do a job at work, that it was a ‘job well done’ and it’s a phase we use in our house,’ says Hermoine. ‘So thanks to everyone who supported this, it was ‘a job well done’.’