17 January 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Pictured are Maurice Madden, President Mitchelstown Lions Club, Micheál Sheridan, CEO Mercy Hospital Foundation, Therese Horgan, Mitchelstown Lions Club and Alan Peppard, Chair Curraghagalla Community Group
Saturday, October 22nd saw more than 1,000 thrill seekers get down and dirty at the 2016 D’hillbillies Mud Run in Mitchelstown, raising a phenomenal €17,419 for cancer services at The Mercy University Hospital Cork. This year’s figure brings the total raised since the mud run’s inception in 2014 to a phenomenal €51,070.
Funds raised through the annual Mud Run, which was once again organised by Mitchelstown Lions Club, will go towards The Mercy Cancer CARE Centre at the Mercy University Hospital Cork.
Together with Curraghagalla Community Group, who kindly gave up their time to volunteer and coordinate the event on October 22nd, President of Mitchelstown Lions Club, Maurice Madden presented a cheque for €17,419 to Deirdre Finn, Community and Events Fundraiser, The Mercy Hospital Foundation at a special ‘Thank You’ event on Friday, January 13th in the Glocca Maura Pub in Mitchelstown.
Speaking at the cheque presentation, Maurice Madden spoke about the planning that went into D’hillbillies Mud Run and the local support that made the event possible: “Following the phenomenal success of previous D’hillbillies Mud Runs, we proud to say we hosted our biggest, best, and muckiest event on Gortnahown Farm in Mitchelstown last October. This would not have been possible without the invaluable local support we received from Lions Club member Billy O’Donovan who kindly hosted the mud run on his land once again; without him, this event simply would not be possible. The local Curraghalla Community Group and the local shops and businesses in Mitchelstown all deserve a special mention; as do our main sponsors RedFM and Dairygold Co-Op Society.”
Maurice concluded “We were thrilled that so many people ventured out in support of The Mercy. They ran, crawled, scrambled and slid over the obstacles throughout the wet and wild course, and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves while doing so. We’re thrilled to have surpassed the €51,000 mark for The Mercy Cancer Appeal and we know that the funds raised will be well used by the Mercy Hospital Foundation. Considering that every one of us at some point has, or will be affected by cancer, we feel this is an extremely worthy cause.”
Speaking about how funds will be used, Deirdre Finn, Community and Events Fundraiser, The Mercy Hospital Foundation said “With one in three people in Ireland expected to have cancer at some point in their lives, it is likely that we or someone close to us will have the experience of sitting in a consultation room, being given devastating news. The Mercy Hospital Foundation is building a specialised Cancer CARE Centre that will provide a quiet, safe place for patients and families dealing with a cancer diagnosis to come to receive support on their cancer journey, and funds raised through this event will go towards the building of the Mercy Cancer CARE centre”
Thanking the organisers and supporters of D’hillbillies Mud Run, Deirdre added “Our mission is to inspire people to support advancements in research, diagnosis, treatments and care of patients at The Mercy University Hospital, the People’s Hospital. We promise to do our very best to provide you with a world class hospital, right on your doorstep, and this is only possible through the help of our supporters and donors like Mitchelstown Lions Club who put Trojan work into organising D’hillbillies Mud Run year after year, and those brave enough to participate in it.”
For more information and photos see https://www.facebook.com/DhillbilliesMudRun. For more information on The Mercy Cancer Appeal see www.mercyfundraising.ie.
