Kildare community raises €25,000 in memory of Dara

A YOUNG Castledermot woman has raised more than €25,000 in memory of her younger brother Dara Kissane, who died suddenly earlier this year.

The funds raised is going directly to charity Autism Assistance Dog Ireland, which provides guide dogs trained to the needs of autistic children. With the high level of training involved, getting one of these guide dogs trained up fully costs €25,000 – the amount recently just reached in the fundraiser.

However, Dara’s sister, 23-year-old Kayla, is dedicated to a fundraising goal of €150,000 –the amount needed for six assistance dogs.

Kayla, a postgraduate student training to be a secondary school music teacher, launched the fundraiser in October after her family lost 19-year-old Dara unexpectedly in March. The fundraiser ‘Walk with Dara’ which was rooted in a daily 80,000-step challenge, has since grown into a town-wide tribute.

“Dara had autism and he was so proud of who he was,” Kayla said.

“He was very independent, even though I mollycoddled him a bit growing up, and he absolutely loved animals. When I saw that it costs €25,000 to train one Autism Assistance Dog, I just thought it was such a lovely idea to do something in his honour.” Kayla’s brother Dara died very suddenly from unknown causes while she was on her way into college.

“It was very, very hard,” she said. “It was very unexpected.” What began as a modest €150 fundraising target quickly climbed as donations poured in. Kayla, her parents and her brother Sean walked every evening throughout October, using the challenge as a way to help with their grief.

“As the months went by, we’d become hermits, I know I did. When I was finished college, I found it really hard to stay motivated. I found the loneliness really hard.” “It was kind of good for us to get out every evening,” she said. “It was something that we all got to do together and just kind of think of Dara as we were doing it.” The people of Castledermot supported the family from the moment Dara died. On the morning of his funeral, the entire town was decorated with purple balloons, Dara’s favourite colour.

“That’s something we’ll never forget,” Kayla said. “It felt like a big hug from the community.” Local man John Phelan later suggested turning the family’s walking challenge into a community event. The result was ‘Walk for Dara’, a group walk following Dara’s favourite route around the town. Despite dreadful weather, crowds turned out in force.

Seeing the public response moved Kayla deeply. “I would never have imagined raising that much money. The whole town helped us get to the finish line.” The final donations that pushed the fundraiser past €25,000 came on Saturday, 6 December, during a community Santa drive-thru organised by Castledermot Community Centre and Radio Castledermot. Families gave optional donations as they visited Santa, and €1,600 was raised on the night.

The total reached the €25,000 mark on Kayla’s birthday, a day she had been dreading since the loss of her brother. “Getting that news made it a little bit easier,” she said.

Last week, the family received the news they had secretly hoped for: the charity Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland confirmed that one of its newest puppies, part of a “superhero litter” of 15, had been named Dara.

The charity has also asked Kayla to become a fundraising ambassador next year, a role she is honoured to take on.

Kayla says the fundraiser was meant to be a small tribute and a way to cope with overwhelming grief, but it became much more.

“I started it for comfort more than anything. I never imagined this. But the community’s generosity has helped us so much. We never felt alone.” She hopes to continue supporting Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland into the new year, inspired by the thought of “superhero puppy Dara” making a difference in another child’s life.

For those wanting to donate to Kayla’s fundraiser, visit: https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/kaylakissane