Leah does her own version of Big Brother in a Kilbrin shack to raise funds for charity
FOLLOWING the cancellation of fundraising events due to the COVID-19 restrictions, charities have been looking at ever more innovative ways to trying to raise badly needed money for charitable causes.
While people being urged to ‘ think outside the box’, Leah Corkery from Dromahane decided to do the exact opposite - spending a week living in a makeshift box-like shack for a week to raise money for the Niall Mellon Educate charity. She even went a step further and live streamed the experience ‘ big brother’ style online.
Leah will be a familiar face to Corkman readers, having twice travelled to South Africa to help the charity’s work among people living in extreme poverty in the townships surrounding the city of Capetown. Last year she ran a successful campaign to collect thousands of teddy bears, which have since been shipped out to children living in the townships.
Speaking to Patricia Messinger on the C103 Cork Today show Leah, who was due to make her third trip to South Africa later this year, said she came up with her latest idea after being asked by an official with the charity to ‘ think outside the box.’
“When I came off the phone I thought to myself ‘why not think inside the box’, so that is what I did,” she said.
She enlisted the help of her father Nicholas and uncle John (both of whom have also travelled to South Africa with the charity on previous occasions ) brother Dylan and cousin Jordan to build a corrugated shack near her grandmothers house – and then spent a week living under its roof.
Members of her family also spent some time in the shack, with her rafter and brother sleeping a van next to it at night.
The aim was to raise €10,000 for food parcels to be distributed to the families of children in the Niall Mellon built township schools and sanitation packs for when the children return to school after the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.
“The children are fed twice a day at school but with the school being closed there is a danger that there may not be enough food at home and they would go hungry,” said Leah.
As it turned out, Leah managed to top that target by the time she finished the challenge on Tuesday, with donations coming in from across Ireland and as far away as Belgium and Australia.
Asked by Patricia what was the toughest part about living in the shack, Leah said trying to control the temperature inside.
“It could get very warm during the day and freezing cold at night – replicating the very conditions that families living in the townships have to endure every day,” she said.
Leah said the COVID-19 pandemic has made what was already a very bad situation in the townships infinitely worse.
“It’s hit the townships very hard. There are thousands of shacks beside each other which makes social distancing very difficult,” she said.
As there is no sanitation in the townships it is almost impossible to stop the virus spreading through them like wildfire.
“Although I have seen at first hand the living conditions in the townships shacks, many of which are just about big enough for a bed and a few personal possessions, the experience gave me a real sense of what it is like to live under these conditions all the time. Particularly now given the current situation over there. It really hit me big time,” said Leah.
“We are really grateful to everyone who donated throughout the week,” said Leah, who is planning to make her third trip out to South Africa next year.
Anyone wishing to donate to the Niall Mellon charity can do so by following the link at www.evertudayhero.com.