This is a simple but an absolutely brilliant fundraising idea for little Dan Donoher – which has already raised almost €5,000.
Courtwood man Brian Hogan, using his own Instagram and Snapchat channels, has come up with a fundraiser for ‘Do It For Dan’ using the National Lottery.
The premise is very simple. Every Saturday night, the draw for the National Lottery takes place on RTE One around 8pm.
The drum contains 47 numbers and for the main Lotto draw, six of them are called out with a bonus ball making seven.
So Brian is offering you the chance to pick your own number out of the 47 that are available.
Once you choose your number on the sheet, that number is yours and can’t be chosen by anyone else.
Entry is €20 and the winner will receive €300. While Brian will donate the remaining €640 straight to the Do It For Dan fund.
So far, Brian has filled up seven sheets meaning that he has managed to raise €4,480 for Dan.
He hopes to fill up several more sheets before the draw on RTE this evening and raise as much money as possible.
Anyone who wants to enter and buy a number from Brian can do so by contacting him on Instagram or Snapchat.
His username for both is @hoganbrian93 and the €20 can be sent to him via Revolut or bank transfer.
Brian said: “This is a fundraiser with a bit of entertainment. Nobody can have a bet or have a drink so this is something you can do that will help a little boy in the process.
“We have had an unbelievable response so far with people, mainly from Courtwood, O’Dempsey’s, Emo, Portarlington, Gracefield and Bracknagh, getting involved.
“So it would be great to see people from all areas putting €20 to this and helping Dan Donoher while maybe winning a few euro for themselves in the process.”
A massive fundraiser was launched for baby Dan Donoher on March 5, son of Niall and Aisling Donoher from Ballybrittas, who has been diagnosed with a rare life-threatening disease.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the little boy with a genetic neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1 and Scoliosis.
A breakthrough treatment is available in the USA and to meet the cost, a target of €2million has been set.
The reaction to the fundraiser has been huge with €618,000 raised so far from more than 17,000 different people.
People are not just raising money but awareness too as people are sharing the GoFundMe page on multiple social media platforms.
Dan’s parents Niall and Aisling (Nee Quigley) are very well known in the Laois GAA community.
Niall represented Laois footballers at all levels until his retirement at the end of the 2018 season while Aisling, originally from Timahoe, played for the Laois ladies team for a long number of years too. The couple live in Jamestown, on the old main Dublin Road near Ballybrittas.
Dan was diagnosed with this disease last December at the age of 8 months.
The life expectancy of an SMA type 1 child is 18-24 months.
A ground breaking treatment called Zolgensma is currently only available in USA and costs 2.1 million dollars for a once off infusion.
Studies show that Zolgensma can substantially improve quality of life and survival of this horrific disease.
This treatment is only available to children under the age of two and who meet the requirements.
Dan currently qualifies but “we are against the clock” his parents explain.
About one in every 11,000 children are diagnosed with SMA. It had been incurable, but with this wonder drug on the market it offers Dan a chance at improved or even a normal life.
SEE ALSO – 7-year-old Liverpool fanatic on course to raise €20,000 for ‘Do It For Dan’
