Niagara Falls 500k Cycle Challenge 2007: Niagara Falls Cycle Challenge 2007

Niagara Falls Cycling Challenge 2007

in aid of

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12

My name is Eugene O’Leary. I am a 64 (almost 65) year old cyclist! ("The Pedalling Pensioner!") My daughter, Helen was a patient of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin until she was eighteen years old. She died one year after leaving the care of the hospital (February 2002), and having her care transferred to an adult hospital. In order to show some appreciation for the wonderful work done by the hospital in enabling my wife and I, together with her brothers and sisters to enjoy the gift of having “an angel” in our family for nineteen years, I started to do fundraising cycles for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, four years ago.

I have raised over €30,000 for the Children’s Medical & Research foundation which is the fundraising arm for both the Foundation and the hospital, over the last three summers by doing a series of 8 hour static cycles (on a training frame) on Bank Holiday weekends, at the entrance to the East Pier, Howth, Co. Dublin in recognition of the wonderful care that our daughter was given, while a patient of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital. I have taken part in the hospitals overseas cycle challenges in Durban, South Africa; Lake Balaton, Hungary and last year in Flagstaff, Arizona. Each of these challenges entailed cycling a distance of 100 kilometres (62 miles) a day for five days. I will now be taking part in this years (2007) cycle challenge in Niagara, Canada from 5^th. to 15^th. September.

I have also taken part in two Garda one-day cycles; one from Raheny Garda Station to Kilkenny and one to Mullingar. Both of these cycles were organised to raise funds for St. Francis Hospice, Raheny and were organised by Det./Sgt. Gary Kelly of Howth Garda Station, who has run a number of wonderful fundraisers for the Hospice.

In the past year I also did a sponsored cycle from Rosslare Harbour to Howth Harbour to raise funds for Scoil Mhuire, our local primary school. This cycle was organised for the purpose of raising funds to install CCTV cameras in the school grounds. The cycle was run in conjunction with a sponsored walk by the pupils of the school and the necessary funds were raised. The cameras are now fully operational.

I now urgently need your help in this year’s fundraising efforts. Fundraising has not gone well this year due to bad weather. I have been unable to do the majority of my static cycles (we had rain every Sunday since June!).

I am now appealing to you to support my fundraising efforts for the Children’s Medical and Research Foundation by sending a donation to: Eugene O’Leary, 67 Grace O’Malley Drive, Howth, Co. Dublin. Ireland. All bank drafts/postal orders should be made payable to “The Children’s Medical & Research Foundation” and not to me personally. All donations will be acknowledged directly by both myself and the Children’s Medical and Research Foundation.

To read about the Children’s Medical & Research Foundation and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, click on this link: http://www.cmrf.org