The Glennon brothers, Martin (17) and Shane (15) from south Roscommon and students of Garbally College, Ballinasloe have raised a staggering €81,150 for charities.
They will donate the proceeds from their fundraising efforts to the Irish Cancer Society, The Galway Hospice and for the Mayo/Roscommon Hospice.
Cancer
It was instinctive that Martin and Shane decided to organise a fundraiser to honour the memory of their mother; Cathy Glennon, who passed away on October 8th, 2020 after a short six-week illness from cancer.
They organised a virtual tractor run, and donations were made through their GoFundMe page, Driving on for Cathy’.
The virtual run saw people posting pictures of their tractors from vintage to large tractors, from ride-ons to toy tractors on their Driving on for Cathy Facebook page.
Auction
In addition to that, the Glennon brothers ran an online auction with the help of Denis A Barrett auctioneer and Gerry Lenehan, Progressive Genetics.
Over 40 lots went for auction on December 29th on Denis’s website, ranging from A.I straws, embryos, turf, timber, a bathroom suite to a lamb for the freezer! The ‘live from your living room’ auction was a huge success, bringing in over €18,000.
Initially, the Glennon brothers set out to raise €5,000 for charity but were quickly overwhelmed by the way the campaign took off and by the generosity of all who supported them, not only from their own community but from all over the country and from abroad too.
Set out to raise €5,000
Shane and Martin said: “We never expected to raise this amount of money; we thought we might raise €5,000, but never anticipated €80,000!”
“This money will help a lot of families through the services provided by the hospice and The Irish Cancer Society. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supported the fundraiser, to those who donated money, to those who sponsored prizes or auction items, to those who bought items, posted pictures or supported us in any way.”
“Also, we would like to thank our family, friends, our community of Moore and surrounding parishes and mam’s in Aughrim for getting involved. We would also like to give a special word of thanks to the members of our GAA Club, Padraig Pearses for their support.”
Above all, the boys attribute the success of their campaign to the support they received from their peers and fellow farming community.
“We’d like to thank them very much. Through this campaign, we have not only raised money. but we have raised awareness too, of the hospice and their services especially among our friends.”
“Unfortunately, in Ireland 1 in 2 people will develop cancer during their lifetime according to the Irish Cancer Society. During the last few weeks, many people have come forward to share how cancer has affected their families.
“We know that due to Covid, funding was down by €4 million for the Irish Cancer Society; we are glad to help out,” remarked Martin.
Palliative care services
Reacting to the final sum raised, CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice Martina Jennings, said: “This is an unbelievable sum of money to raise from one event for three charities, including ourselves.”
“Martin and Shane showed great strength in organising this event so soon after the passing of their mum Cathy. What they have done by raising this total is ensure so many people get the same care that Cathy did within our palliative care service.”
“100% of the money raised by Driving on for Cathy will go directly to providing palliative care services in Mayo and Roscommon. We cannot thank Martin and Shane enough for what they’ve done.”
“To organise such an event in ordinary times is difficult enough but doing so in a pandemic is truly remarkable. So, we just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” Jennings concluded.
