Pictured above is Norah Casey with students of The Convent of Mercy Roscommon with a Make-A-Wish ‘Kids for Wish Kids’ award for excellence in ‘Commerciality’, and ‘Funds Raised’ for their sponsored haircut fundraiser – Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow. Picture: Kinlan Photography.
The Convent of Mercy Roscommon town received two Awards at the annual “Kids for Wish Kids” Schools Entrepreneurship Awards 2015/16 on Wednesday.
The young ladies proved that students are changing the face of fundraising in their schools and received Awards for excellence in ‘Commerciality’ and ‘Highest Funds’ raised for their Sponsored Haircut event.
Not only did students raise over €4,000, but the hair was going to Rapunzel, an Irish organisation who make wigs for children. Forty three students and two teachers took part on the day and it was clear that the Convent of Mercy really maximised the fundraising potential of a very simple idea.
Judged by a group of long standing Make-A-Wish supporters, including Entrepreneur, Broadcaster and Publisher Norah Casey; and Director of Marketing at Peter Mark, Jenny McDermott.
Niamh Tully from Convent of Mercy Roscommon was delighted to win an award with her fellow students and said “We heard about this competition from our teacher, and once we heard of the moving stories associated with the great work Make-A-Wish undertake, we really wanted to enter. We feel that the whole event was a tremendous success. There are not many events in the year when the whole school comes together for one cause so we are very proud of this.”
The awards programme, was created by Make-A-Wish to help translate the ingenuity, energy and business acumen of young people into magical wishes for brave children who are battling a life-threating illness such as cancer, cystic fibrosis and heart disease.
Speaking at the event, Susan O’Dwyer, CEO of Make-A-Wish said: “It’s great to get children involved in fundraising from a young age. Showing kids that you can actually have a lot of fun helping others is an important part of building their characters.”
Susan O’Dwyer went on to say “The creative talents, business skills and social conscience of all the students really came through in the entries. Everyone at the Convent of Mercy in Roscommon should be very proud of their efforts and I would encourage all the students to keep up the good work and push the boundaries, to make a difference to their own lives but most importantly to the lives of our very special wish kids.”
Winners of the awards received a prestigious “Kids4WishKids” Schools Entrepreneurship trophy for their school, and a professional reference for their CV from the prestigious judging panel.
For teachers who want to sign up their students to take part in this year’s event, students can carry out their project from now until December 2016. For further details, visit www.makeawish.ie and to apply for an entry form, contact Make-A-Wish Schools Fundraising Officer [email protected] or call the office on 01 2052012