Share A Dream Foundation celebrates 21 years

IN the 21 years since establishing the Share A Dream Foundation, Shay Kinsella has worked with over 20,000 families.
Now, the foundation that makes the dreams of sick children come true, is celebrating its 21st year with a free Dream Concert in the RDS on August 20, where pop stars, boy bands, girl bands, dancers, face painters and costume characters will be present, along with over 1,000 kids.
Shay explained how the foundation came about. “About 22 years ago, I had a bad accident and ended up in hospital, just feeling sorry for myself. I saw kids going up and down for treatment and thought, ‘wow at least I had a life, unlike these little broken bodies’. There was a gorgeous little girl and I was told she had leukaemia. When you’re in there you have a lot of time on your hands and I thought I should do something to cheer her up. I became friendly with her mother and wondered if there was anything her girl wanted. Her dream was to go to Disneyland, so I started putting that together but unfortunately she passed away.”
From then on, Shay began knocking on doors and asking for charity. To this day, Share A Dream doesn’t receive any Government funding and employs only two full-timers. He refers to it as “the smallest, biggest foundation in Ireland”.
“We have a thousand workers who don’t get paid all over Ireland. The gardaí are always nice and often provide escorts. Everyone wants to be part of it. The upcoming RDS event has 2,000 people involved.
Of the children, he says, “It started off just bringing a couple of kids down to Ballybunion and Kilkee to the beach, until one kid said he wanted to see Manchester United play. I thought ‘wow, I wonder if I could do that?’”
Twenty-one years on, Shay can hardly believe he has worked with over 20,000 families.
“Our motto is very simple, we just create smiles for special kids. We don’t do education or hospitals, we just bring them away from the heartache, the loneliness and the fear and we give them something special. Imagine a kid’s face when they go and meet their hero?”
Although the foundation hasn’t let a child down yet, Mr Kinsella admitted sometimes it is simply out of their hands. “There’s a seven-year-old girl who wants to drive an articulated truck to France. She can’t even see over the steering wheel but we’ll figure something out. Nothing’s impossible. We don’t close the door on anyone. I think we’re the only charity in Europe that works with all kinds of sick kids. Most requests we can do. In a way, I’m like a genie in a bottle. I give them three wishes and there’s always one of them you can do.
“I realised it was good for the parents too. When you’ve a child diagnosed with a terrible illness or disability, for the parents it has to be heartbreaking. You’re helpless; it’s the loneliest place on the planet. No one can help you and there’s very little support for them in Ireland.”
Shay also spoke about the origins of the Dream Machine, which is a large van fitted inside with cushy interior and all sorts of toys and electronics. Only sick children and their families are allowed inside.
“There was a boy from Kildysart who just wanted to have a birthday party but he was always in hospital. I made the Dream Machine for him. We go around the country with a police escort. Imagine that arriving at your door. It makes the kids feel really special,” he concluded.
More information is available on www.shareadream.ie.