90-Year-old leads danceathon in aid of Irish Red Cross and Age Action
A milestone birthday should never go unmarked but Kathleen Lynch will have to improvise this year as she turns 90 years old in whilst cocooning.
The Louth woman was planning a one-woman 90-minute dance party in her back garden to celebrate the momentous occasion but now she’s calling on the rest of Ireland to join her in a bid to raise funds for charity.
At 3.09 pm on Friday, May 1, the exact time that Kathleen was born, she’s asking that the people of Ireland dance for one minute to help celebrate her birthday and raise much-needed funds for the Irish Red Cross and Age Action.
Kathleen herself will now be dancing on the hour, every hour, from 12pm. Her husband, 94-year-old Donnie, hopes to join her for a waltz during that time.
The Irish Red Cross and Age Action set up a Hardship Fund in March to help vulnerable older people who were experiencing added financial stress due to the Covid-19 crisis.
However, the huge number of applications means that the fund was oversubscribed, so Kathleen’s fundraising efforts are especially welcome and will ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from the Hardship Fund.
With an initial goal of €1000, Kathleen has already breezed past that number and has now raised almost €10,000 for the two charities. She hopes that the people of Ireland will get help her celebrate her birthday by dancing and donating this Friday.
Her daughter, Geraldine, says that Kathleen has been “completely humbled” by the outpouring of support for her charity fundraiser.
How it all started was that she said she didn’t want anything for her birthday because of the situation in Ireland at the minute and then she said if we wanted to do something would we give money to a charity that needed it at this time.
"So she chose the two charities because they were dealing with the fund for older people.”
If you would like to donate to Kathleen’s birthday fundraiser in aid of the Irish Red Cross and Age Action, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/kathleen-is-giving-it-90
