Dublin Fire Brigade crews raise €3,400 for Gavin Glynn charity
By Mary Dennehy
LOCAL firefighters raised €3,400 on Saturday for a children’s charity that supports families travelling abroad for cancer treatment.
A Dublin Fire Brigade crew from across local stations, including Nutgrove and Tallaght, gathered last Saturday for an eight-hour fundraising drive for The Gavin Glynn Foundation – a charity which provided unmeasurable support to Tallaght firefighter Brian Tracey after his son Micheal was diagnosed with cancer and had to travel overseas for cancer treatment.
Established last year, The Gavin Glynn Foundation was founded by parents John and Jayne Glynn who travelled abroad for treatment with their son Gavin, who had a rare form of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma.
After sadly losing their little ‘superhero’ Gavin last year, John and Jayne vowed to support other families travelling abroad for treatment with a sick child – after they experienced the stress of trying to care for a child undergoing treatment and organise travel plans at the same time.
John told The Echo: “Every penny of the money raised in Tallaght on Saturday will go towards helping families who are travelling abroad – and not only do we pay for flights, transport, accommodation and expenses, but we look after all of the logistics.
“A family travelling has nothing to organise, we sort all of the travel plans and even pick them up from their house and bring them to the airport – all they have to do is pack a bag.
“We take the financial strain away from families and the stress of trying to organise transport and flights, which gives them a chance to focus solely on their sick child.”
He added: “This is our first full year and to date we have helped 10 families, with the money raised in Tallaght at the weekend going to support an eight-year-old from Walkinstown and a two-year-old from Tipperary.
“Both children have tumours and are going to Germany for treatment.
“We can’t help families like these without the support of the public and we are so thankful to all of the people who donated in The Square on Saturday.”
Firefighter Derek Riordan, who was part of the organising team behind Saturday’s collection, confirmed to The Echo that €3,400 was donated by shoppers in The Square.
He said: “We had a great day on Saturday, people were so generous.
“One hundred per cent of everything collected is going straight to the Gavin Glynn Foundation, which is a fantastic charity that provides amazing support to families with sick children.
“Thanks to everybody for supporting the fundraising day on Saturday, we really appreciate it.”
For more information, or to donate, visit www.gavinglynnfoundation.ie or the charity’s Facebook page.
