Volunteerism in Athy

Volunteerism is alive and well in south Kildare. That has always been the case for as long as I can remember. Voluntary groups worked to give us a swimming pool in the early 1960s and a much-improved Gaelic games grounds at Geraldine a decade earlier. The local rugby club and the various soccer clubs in Athy have also benefited from the work of their members and volunteers over the years. There is an impressive array of work still being done by local volunteers in present day Athy. The Athy Recreational Community Centre, formerly Dreamland Ballroom, is managed by a committee chaired by Ann Cunningham and over a long number of years they have kept the doors of that centre open for a mixed variety of community activities. Ann and her colleagues are doing a service for the community in the same way as are members of committees working anywhere in the town for a multiplicity of organisations. Another aspect of volunteerism is the unusual and generally rare adventurous tasks undertaken by individuals or groups to raise funds for worthy causes. Over the next few weeks three separate acts of volunteerism for charitable purposes will take place. The first features the local man who in 2021 climbed the iron stairs on the outside wall of Athy’s rugby club 2812 times over three days to reach the equivalent height of the worlds highest mountain, Mount Everest. This was a stupendous achievement by Brian Dooley and the sponsorship he earned on that occasion all went to local charities. Brian is again on the volunteering warpath and this time he intends to walk the marathon distance using the walkway around the perimeter of the playing field at Geraldine Park which over a hundred years ago hosted both hurling and football All Ireland finals. Walking 26.2 miles would not present any major difficulty for a reasonably fit young man. However, Brian’s marathon journey will be made as he walks backwards. Having trained for a number of weeks Brian is reasonably confident that all going well he will complete the backward walk in 10 hours. He starts his marathon on Saturday 16th March at 6 o’clock in the morning. The days event is dedicated to his mother Josie, the second anniversary of whose death takes place on the same day. The funds collected will be donated to Athy Gaelic Football Club, St. Michael’s Parish heating fund and Athy Lions Club. Brian would welcome people to join him on the day and he invites those who have lost loved ones to join in what for him is a pilgrimage of remembrance. An unusual feature will be a memorial wall positioned at the start of the walk where anyone wishing to participate can place a photograph of a lost loved one. Donations can be made on the day. So come along on Saturday to walk, to talk, to remember and most of all to donate. Six days later on March 22nd the pupils of the local Gaelscoil are undertaking a sponsored walk to raise funds for Athy Lions Club and to make a presentation to our Parish Priest, Fr. Liam Rigney, whose house was recently damaged by fire. I am told the junior pupils will each walk 2.5kms, while the senior pupils will walk 5kms. It has been calculated that the entire school pupils’ participation when added together will measure the same distance as that from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in west Cork. Donations and sponsorship can be made through any of the school students or teachers, and I am told that the school’s website includes a QR code which one can scan to donate. The third charitable event, this time for the Irish Cancer Society and Athy Lions Club, involves Mary Feely climbing to first base camp on Mount Everest. Mary and her husband Rod will start the climb on Holy Thursday, setting off from Lukla, Nepal to reach the base camp approximately 8 days later. Mary has been a volunteer driver for the Cancer Society for several years and decided to celebrate what she described as a ‘roundy’ birthday by challenging herself to walk all the way up 17,500 feet for the Irish Cancer Society and Athy Lions Club because of her involvement with both groups. See Mary’s fund raising page on iDonate.ie. The young pupils of Athy’s Gael Scoil and both Mary Feely and Brian Dooley have shown tremendous spirit and good will in undertaking their different challenges. Their involvement as volunteers to raise funds for charitable purposes is highly commendable and deserving of the support of the community at large.