Lions Club Christmas fundraising appeal

THE Lions Club of Ennis is hoping to light up the lives of others this Christmas as part of their annual fundraising appeal.
The last number of years has seen the Lions raise funds for local charities through the sponsorship of lights on the town’s Christmas tree.
This year’s appeal will raise funds for the Brothers of Charity services in Clare. According to Tom Carey, project co-ordinator with the Lions Club of Ennis, “The Brothers of Charity do a lot of good work around the county and we are happy to be able to support this work through our annual appeal.”
He explained, “This fundraising appeal has been facilitated by Ennis Town Council and we are urging people to sponsor lightbulbs on the town Christmas tree in the market. Sponsorship costs €20 a bulb and a fundraising page has been set up on mycharity.ie. People can donate by going to the website and hitting ‘sponsor a friend’ and typing in Lions Xmas Tree Appeal,” he said.
The Lions Club is encouraging people to use this appeal, not just to help a worthy charity but also to remember loved ones who have had to emigrate in these hard times.
“The Lions Club is acutely aware that these are very hard times and that many will have loved ones abroad this Christmas. The light you sponsor can be a symbol that your loved one is very much in your thoughts over the festive season.”
Eamon Finn of the Brothers of Charity said they are delighted to be involved with this fundraising initiative. “Our work focuses on supporting individuals with intellectual disability to enjoy a good life in a happy, safe and healthy way; to support the individuals to increase their opportunities for valued life experiences. Our aim is to provide support directly to each person to enable their needs to be met and to assist people to realise their goals and dreams whilst maintaining relationships in inclusive community settings. An essential element of this work is our commitment to building partnerships with families and community groups. We believe this approach facilitates greater opportunities and experiences for the people we support,” he commented.
He added, “All elements of our services are committed to working with people with intellectual disability to claim their rightful place in society as valued citizens. We believe in the intrinsic value of every person and want each individual to have a wide variety of opportunities for self-expression in home life education, occupation and leisure.”
Lions Club of Ennis is a locally based volunteer group with a focus on helping the needy in the town and county. Since its founding in 1977, volunteer members have worked to serve the less well-off in the community.