This article is from page 33 of the 2007-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
THE generosity of a group of Shan- non workers is set to greatly enhance the lives of several children in the mid-west.
Workers at Genworth Financial in the Industrial Estate in Shannon raised €6,/00, through a variety of events last year. They have donated this money to The Blue Box Crea- tive Learning Centre.
The Blue Box is an innovative charity, which provides support to young people and their families,
through creative therapies.
Genworth selected The Blue Box as its charity partner for 2006. A committee of six people organised various events and everybody was keen to get involved, in some way.
Among the fundraisers organised included a Valentine’s Day cake sale, children’s art competition on St Patrick’s Day, a mini marathon, table quiz and Christmas card com- petition. Groups of staff also took part in a 10k in Limerick walk last SLennapas lore
Committee member Toni McDon-
agh said the 300-strong staff at the company are keen to help various charities.
“We adopt a different charity every year and try to raise funds through- out the year,” she said.
“The art competition involved the children of people who work here. Everybody gets involved,” she said.
The organisers were thrilled to raise so much money. The aim is to collect €5,000 every year, but this was surpassed last year.
“We aim for €5,000. If we get more than that, it is a bonus. We
were very proud to have supported The Blue Box. We aim to reach out in our community, give back to 1m- portant local causes and have lots of fun along the way,” said Ms McDon- agh.
Last year, the Blue Box was chosen after a vote. Staff were all invited to make suggestions on who should benefit from the money raised throughout the year and The Blue Box came up trumps last year.
This year, the staff have voted to make donations to Bluebell ABA, which is a pre-school for autistic
children in the mid-west.
‘Parents have got together and set up the pre-school. It is based in Ra- heen, Limerick. We heard about it, through work and picked it out, to donate our money raised this year,’ added Ms McDonagh.
Bluebell opened its doors in March 2004 and caters for autistic children homey vue Ceber be
Its aim is to help move children into mainstream education and the staff at Genworth are optimistic that their effort will go a long way in helping those children.