Bernadette Murray (President, Malahide Lions)

When caring people join together, roll up their sleeves and take action to make their community better, it’s a beautiful thing- and an incredible feeling for everyone involved. When we heard that ‘Ollies are off to the North Pole’ we thought that it was a terrific idea. When we were told that Malahide Lions Club was to be a beneficiary of this project we were thrilled and so very grateful to everyone in Ollies (St Oliver Plunketts School),
Malahide Lions Club was founded in 1973 and has been growing and developing since then. We are part of a huge network of 48,000 Lions Clubs with 1.4 million members worldwide. In Ireland there are 102 Lions clubs with 2,300 members. Our ‘raison d’etre’ is to serve and to meet humanitarian needs within our communities.There are two aspects to our work, we fundraise for local and national charities and we get involved in service projects in our local community. Every year we do our Christmas Appeal which allows us to distribute Food Vouchers to families in need.Among our many other projects, we host an annual senior citizens Christmas Party in the Grand Hotel and we organise a ‘Service to the Community Award’ with Transition Year students in Malahide Community School. Sadly Covid10 has forced us to put both of these projects ‘on hold’ this year. Our fundraising capacity has also been devastated by Covid19 which makes your donation of over €6,000 all the more special. It means we can continue to serve our community and to help those in need. 2020 has been a devastating year for so many people in so many ways and with your help we can help to alleviate some of the suffering out there. ‘Thank you’ to each and every member of the Ollies community.