Event raises almost €3,000 for family of nine-year-old Emma

ALMOST €3,000 was raised at a recent fundraiser for the family of a nine-year-old Greenhills girl who died last month – and donations are still being accepted online.

The 5km fun run event was held on Saturday, September 10, outside the Greenhills Community Centre to celebrate the life of Emma Howe, who died on August 2.

Emma, who attended Holy Spirit Primary School, was diagnosed with leukaemia in November last year but appeared to be responding well to treatment before suddenly passing away.

Her funeral was held in the Church of the Holy Spirit on August 8, with her beloved golden retriever Cody walking in front of the coffin and leading it into the church.

Emma’s funeral Mass was followed by burial in Newland’s Cross Cemetery, and she is survived by her mam Sandra, her dad Gary, and siblings Louise, Rebecca, Aaron, Rhys and Karl.

The fun run held earlier this month gave the community the opportunity to come together to remember Emma and support her family, with €2,790 being raised for them.

Emma Howe

Attendees got to participate in the run, and the children there got to dance to a dance playlist, while there was also live music and a DJ on the day.

There was also a banner in memory of Emma that was a feature of the day, while there was a slideshow of photos of the young girl as her funeral song, ‘Forever Young’, was played.

An emotional balloon release took place towards the end of the day, which allowed a moment of reflection for the attendees to remember Emma.

The event was organised by Michelle Smith, who runs Ceann Sásta Café at Greenhills Football Club.

She knew Emma as she frequented the café, and she has set up a GoFundMe to help the Howes.

“The people who were at the memorial day were saying it could happen to anybody, how Emma was fine and her ninth birthday and at Halloween,” Michelle told The Echo.

“It could come to any of our doors.”

Michelle added that Emma’s dad, Gary, said she would’ve loved the fun day due to the abundance of puddles, which she used to enjoy jumping in.

When asked if she had a message for people who supported the day, Michelle said: “Thank you so much for your support – you’re the people that make all the difference.

“They came out in their raincoats, and they turned up. We just wanted to let Emma’s family know that we’re there for them, no matter what.”

Donations are still being accepted on the GoFundMe page that was set by Michelle for the family, titled ‘In Loving Memory of Emma Howe – A Fundraiser’, which you can visit HERE. 

“Any donation that people can give can make a great difference to this family, because they have a very tough road ahead of them,” said Michelle.

“Emma’s dad, Gary, will be off work for a while and they’re not going to function as a normal family [while they’re grieving] so we just want to give them that support.

“I think they probably need a little bit of help until Gary can get back to work and that will take a bit of time.”

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