A night of tears, joy and generosity
By Denise Charlton
The RTE Toy Show is always a night of heart-warming stories, bringing joy and laughter to the lives of so many in Ireland and all over the world.
This year's Toy Show however is one for the record books. From the minute the Toy Show Appeal was launched thousands of people flocked online to donate.
Just when I thought we had seen the best of Irish generosity, we were once again blown away. To have raised €5.5 million in under three hours is astonishing.
It really speaks to the sense of community and solidarity we have in Ireland and within the Irish diaspora. Covid-19 has not just been a health pandemic, it has affected our ability to be a community in everyday life. The Toy Show Appeal was a beacon of light last night, showing the world that we are still here, we still care, and our sense of community is stronger than ever.
The team here at The Community Foundation for Ireland would like to sincerely thank RTE for bringing us all together. We also want to thank every single person who took the time and gave up valuable funds at this expensive time. No one has escaped the hardship of 2020 but for the children of Ireland this year has been especially difficult. Your donations will go to those who need it the most.
Like the elves in the north pole we will now get to work on distributing the funds! There are three chosen charities to receive 50% of the funds this year: Children’s Health Foundation, Barnardos and Children’s Books Ireland. Due to the tremendous generosity shown last night we now have extra funds to distribute to other children’s charities who are supporting children like Adam and Saoirse all over Ireland.
As always we will keep you up to date on all grants made. At any time you can visit our website to view a status report on this fund or any other of our other funds. Our role in distributing funds is to be as transparent as possible and uphold the highest standards of governance so you can feel safe knowing your donations are going to those most in need.
To read more on the grants from the Toy Show Appeal Fund click here.
For media queries please contact Hazel Hennessy on hhennessy@foundation.ie or 0831501267
Denise Charlton can be reached on dcharlton@foundation.ie or 0872215470