James Meenan
Dundalk’s James Meenan was amongst the 88 Irish athletes who flew out to Los Angeles for the Special Olympics World Summer Games yesterday.
The 20-year-old from Greenacres, who is a national sprint champion over 100m and 200m, is a member of St Peter’s Athletic Club in Dromiskin.
He will be hoping to become the best in the world when competition begins for him at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Wayne Mooney from St Nicholas Avenue will be amongst the volunteers attending.
Breda Mooney with her son Wayne, who is hoping to raise funds to travel as a volunteer to the Special Olympics in Los Angeles this summer
St Nicholas’ Avenue man, Wayne Mooney is working hard to raise funds so he can volunteer at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles this July.
Speaking at Dunne Stores in Ard Easmuinn during a bag pack on Saturday, Wayne’s parents Michael and Breda explained how much it would cost.
“We have to raise a total of €4,750,” said Breda “and thanks to the generosity of the people of Dundalk, we are halfway there already.
“When Wayne first said he wanted to do this, his father and I thought that was great. Wayne has always been a credit to us, kind, thoughtful and very giving. We didn’t realise however, that there was no financial help for volunteers. The athletes will get sponsorship and quite rightly so, but for volunteers like Wayne traveling to help out, they have to fund themselves.”
Wayne’s father Michael said “he even has to find his own fare for the taxi to the airport. We are supportive of Wayne doing this and will do whatever we can to help out and make it happen. The Special Olympics is a fantastic event and we are so proud to be associated with them in any way.”
Wayne said: “I want to thank Dunnes Stores for allowing us to do this bag pack. The staff have been so nice and the customers are very generous. The minute people see our Special Olympics t-shirts, they are willing to drop money into the buckets and are more than happy to talk about Special Olympics in general. It is such a great organisation and I am looking forward to being a part of it in July.”
With just under five months to go and about half the funds raised, the Mooney family are asking anyone who wishes to donate to please do so through their charity account in the Permanent TSB.
The details are:
IBAN: IE54IPBS99061423712886 BIC: IPBSIE2DXXX
The family again would like to thank everyone for their kind generosity and words of
support.
Talk of the Town 