The whole of Abbeyleix and beyond got involved to raise huge funds for a Spina Bifida charity in honour of little Laois girl, Lucy Hutchinson.
A large number of Laois businesses organised a fundraising drive for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Ireland (SBHI).
Five year old Lucy Hutchinson, who lives in Abbeyleix with her parents Maura and Aubrey and sister Lily, just recently graduated from The Children’s House Montessori in Abbeyleix, which was where the idea for the fundraiser came from.
Montessori owner Margaret Palmer-Bergin explained that the school do fundraisers for different charities every year, and spoke about what a joy in was to have Lucy in the classroom.
”She is absolute joy to have in the classroom,” beamed Margaret. “She never ever complains and she is so happy to be involved in everything.”
CEO of SBHI, Tom Scott, was presented with the cheque at Mark Williams Butchers, who themselves raised €670 in honour of Lucy for SBHI.
A big thank you
Margaret and Lucy’s mother had a big list of thank you’s for all those who helped to raise money for the SBHI on behalf of Lucy, from businesses in Abbeyleix to the passerby on the street.
The brainchild for the idea came when one of Lucy’s teachers, Livia Balkova, made a graduation cake for the Montessori class. They decided that the cake was so nice, they should raffle it to raise funds.
A Montessori parent and owner of Expert Laois, Jenny Deveney, decided to help with the raffle by donating fabulous spot prizes and both Jenny and Livia helped with much of the fundraising on behalf of Lucy.
From there, businesses such as Carraig Donn in Portlaoise donated even more generous spot prizes, and Mark Williams Butchers in Abbeyleix organised a barbecue day – with half of the donations from the day being split between SBHI and the Irish Cancer Society.
Margaret wished to thank all those who donated funds and spot prizes on behalf of Lucy.
Margaret and Maura also thanked all the parents of children in The Children’s House Montessori for their generous contributions to SBHI.
Lucy is now making the move to big school as she attends Scoil Mhuire, Abbeyleix, in September, and we wish her the very best of luck in her new school.
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