Leanne Moore goes back to school to raise funds for Clionas Foundation

Pictured Above: Leanne Moore with pupils of Our Lady Queen of Peace primary school. Picture by: Oisin McHugh.

Leanne Moore with pupils of Our Lady Queen of Peace. Picture by: Oisin McHugh.

Cliona’s Foundation ambassador Leanne Moore went back to school and visited Our Lady Queen of Peace, primary school in Jamesboro to try to raise funds for Clionas Foundation. This Lent Cliona’s Foundation are asking schools in Limerick to raise €200 to support some struggling families with the non-medical costs associated with looking after a critically or terminally ill child.

The ordeal of a child’s grave illness or injury tests families far beyond their endurance, taking an enormous toll financially, emotionally and physically. Many of these families are reaching the end of their “hope rope” as they do not know how they are going to afford to get through the next few days – never mind the next month.

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Funding provided to families is not to be used to pay for the child’s actual medical care; rather, donations are made to families for other “hidden” costs, including accommodation, food, petrol and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by families who must take sick children to hospitals or other medical facilities for frequent treatments.

These costs can quick mount for families with it costing up to €200 a day to bring a sick child for treatment in Dublin from Limerick. Often families have to take their children to hospital on a regular basis and these costs quickly rise.

Leanne Moore explains, “I’ve always admired Brendan and Terry Ring and was only too happy to support Cliona’s Foundation. I’ve been very lucky in life and now would like to give something back to help others. Cliona’s Foundation is a remarkable Foundation and I hope to spread the word about the difference it has made and can make to families. I really hope that the schools will come together to help, €200 a day quickly adds up and can be crippling to families.”

Sarah’s Story – “As a single mother living quite far away from a hospital, I often cannot afford to get the train down to see my daughter when she is in long-term care. I found myself blindsided by all these unexpected bills and fees and had to carry on with my job in order to afford them. The balance between the emotional stress of Sarah’s illness and the financial stress caused by it is often unbearable. I often have to try to find my ‘happy place’ just to get through it all – for me it is her smile. When things are very tough, I go to that ‘happy place’.”

There are hundreds of families in Ireland who are in a similar situation to Sarah’s and they need our help. When a family has a sick child they should not have to struggle under the additional stress of worrying whether or not they can pay their bills.

For further information contact Allison McNamara, Cliona’s Foundation by emailing [email protected] or phoning 061-400640. 

You can check out Cliona’s Foundation on their website here, and their Facebook page here. 

Read more about Cliona’s Foundation here. You can also read more about Leanne Moore here.