Kildare sunflower sale was a blooming success
Philip Dunne & Elaine Timmins pictured with Prof Charles Gallagher and members of the CF team at St Vincent's Hospital
A SUNFLOWER sale fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) was a fantastic success.
The event at Crooket, Maganey raised €9,635.52 for the CF unit at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Philip Dunne in partnership with Elaine Timmins, along with support from their families, friends and community, created an acre of sunflowers.
As well as the sunflowers, they had photo opportunities, ice cream and coffee stands, over two weekends and an additional Sunday.
This was the second year of the fundraiser which has now raised almost €19,000 Philip and the Dunne family want to thank everyone who helped out with the preparations and for all the support and generosity of locals who made the event a success.
Lily, Marian and Helen, the flower girls, turned out beautiful bunches of sunflowers, greeting the visitors to the field, chatting, and selling local honey, and home-made brack and bread.
Brendan Pittman, whisked up some more signs, so they could be put out at more crossroads, getting the word further.
Una from The Old Yard lent the use of one of her huts that looked beautiful in the field with sunflowers as a backdrop, and people took shelter from the occasional shower of rain in it.
Refreshments were provided by Aibhe and Ciara from Kelly's Icecream and Jane from Coffee Cob.
Sally Kirwan, a gifted knitter and crafter, donated beautiful, knitted dolls, animal characters, and wreaths, all were sold in a jiffy, with proceeds all going into the pot.
Local public representatives Veralouise Behan and Mark Wall were also a great help.
The cause got a great plug from Michael English, who couldn't make it to the field, but took the time to make a reel on his music page to spread the word.
Jo Doyle, one of the CF nurses from the unit, also took the time to visit the field and support the initiative again.
