Dundalk mother raises a whopping €18k for Jack and Jill

Local Kilkerley mother Cecelia Sage has raised a whopping €18,139 for the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation by running a gruelling 50 kilometre challenge on Saturday 27th May at Kilkerley Emmets GAA club, cheered on in the warm sunshine by family, friends and neighbours. 

Cecilia’s six year old daughter, Sarah, was born with an extremely rare brain abnormality called ZTTK Syndrome and has received great support from Jack and Jill, which left her parents Peter and Cecilia determined to give back to the charity by raising critical funds and awareness. 

Sarah is one of less than 100 children worldwide who have been diagnosed with this condition and has complex needs, requiring 24/7 care. 

She is non-verbal, suffers from a developmental delay but despite all these challenges is a very sociable little girl who loves the company of family and friends. 

Peter is vice chairman of Louth GAA and the family got great support from the GAA and wider local community throughout this big challenge in May and Jack and Jill is the charity partner of the Gaelic Players Association this year too.  So that sense of local community was really at the heart of this family fundraiser. 

Jack and Jill CEO Carmel Doyle was at the start line on Saturday to wish Cecilia well, along with the charity’s local liaison nurse manager Anne Reilly.

Welcoming this great news she said: 

“We are so proud and honoured to know Cecilia, Peter, Sarah and her brother Jamsie and their efforts will help the 400 families we support around the country, including 6 in county Louth and 11 in county Meath. 

"I was lucky enough to be there on the day, along with our local liaison nurse manager Anne Reilly, and I can tell you it took true grit determination from Cecilia to complete this gruelling 50k challenge in the heat and her smile never waned. 

"So many people turned up to support her on and it was a privilege to see such local community spirit in action.  To every single person who donated to Cecilia’s 50k Challenge for Jack and Jill we say thank you and what a result! 

"To put this amount in context, this €18,139 will fund 1,008 hours of home nursing care and in-home respite for the 400 children we support across the country, including 6 in Co. Louth and 11 in Co. Meath.  Or, to put it another way, it gives another family the kind of support Sarah received for up to 6 years which equates to a wonderful gift of time and peace of mind. 

"On behalf of all our families and nurses, we say and huge thank you to Cecilia who has been a real champion for Jack and Jill, along with her husband Peter who is such a great volunteer.  Our charity wouldn’t exist without the generosity of families like the Sage’s who understand the importance of community and giving back and we salute them and thank them most sincerely.”     

According to proud husband Peter Sage:

“This event was made possible with the help of Kilkerley Emmets and Yvonne Quigley; Clive at Kelleher Insurance; Karl at Player Fit for the t-shirts; The Brew Café and Caoimh; Taste Smash; Beir Bua Bakes and Sean O’Mahoney’s Kilkerley ladies who ran and walked laps with Cecilia and everyone who joined us on the day and, of course, everyone who donated. 

"However, I have to mention how proud I am of Cecilia, my wife, my hero who has the courage and compassion of an army, and who is was always going to keep going and finish this 50km, as her way of honouring the support we got from Jack and Jill which kept us going for so many years.  I was so proud to cheer her on.”

The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation is an Irish children’s charity that funds and delivers in-home nursing care and respite support for children with severe to profound cognitive delay, up to the age of six. 

This may include children with a brain injury, genetic diagnosis, cerebral palsy or undiagnosed conditions. Another key part of the service is end-of-life care for all children up to the age of six, irrespective of diagnosis. 

To do this, the charity must raise over €6 million per annum to keep its vital service going, and currently supports over 400 families with up to 80 hours of home nursing care per month at a cost of €1,440, or €17,280 per year.  

Jack and Jill mobilises a crew of community nurses and carers, operates seven days a week, with no means test, no red tape and no waiting list. In fact, over 2,800 families have been supported since Jack and Jill’s establishment 26 years ago. 

The support is often described as ‘a gift of time’ or a ‘lifeline’, giving parent carers a break from their 24/7 care regime, safe in the knowledge that their child is well cared for at home, where they belong. 

For more information, visit jackandjill.ie