Pieta House gets boost for annual Darkness into Light event
By Mark Keane
PIETA House has been awarded an app that will help improve the registration and payment system for its annual Darkness Into Light event.
The app will save the charity 5,000 volunteer hours and eliminate the handling of over €1.5m in cash.
Pieta House received the app as part of Paypal’s Opportunity Hack 2.0, which helps create and develop digital resources and systems for Irish charities over a 24-hour period. The charity event, held at Castleknock Hotel in Dublin, is designed to address the most pressing digital needs for businesses taking part.
Darkness Into Light, which started in 2009, is Pieta Houses’s annual fundraising and awareness event, helping to promote suicide prevention. Next year’s event is to be held on Saturday, May 6, with registrations currently open for those looking to take part.
The event continues to grow year-on-year, from 400 people taking part in 2009 to 130,000 last year. The app will help address the challenges that come with managing such a large event.
Kieran Brady, director of Funding and Advocacy, Pieta House, said: “As our flagship funding event, Darkness Into Light is the single biggest occasion that allows us to keep our doors open and continue to provide our life-saving service free of charge to people all over Ireland.”
Mr Brady added that Pieta House are “extremely grateful to the PayPal team for lending us their time and expertise for this project.”
If you require support, you can find your nearest Pieta House at www.pieta.ie or call 1800 247 247.
