THE MALONE family from Leitrim have presented over £54,000 to local charities following the successful fundraising events for Wee James, who died in March.
James’s sister Aisling said the family are shocked by the amount of money that has been donated, adding the support and kindness shown has ‘helped their family’ during a very difficult time. “We knew we had an amazing community before, but they came out in force,” Aisling said. “Even the wider community that we had reached. “We are overwhelmed. We couldn’t believe how much people cared. “It shows the love and support that people had for James and what they thought of James and they wanted to support the family. “People have been so nice and so kind to us. It shows how much James meant to people. “That has helped us through. We are never going to forget him, but it shows that other people won’t forget him either. “That is comforting.”
The event took place on Sunday 9 July, which coincided with James’s 21st birthday, which was on Friday 7 July. The family held a tractor run, starting at their home farm in Leitrim, where over 500 tractors turned up. There were fun events and food all day, and the donations flowed in. On Saturday (19 August) they presented cheques to their nominated charities. Family and friends were invited to the day and were told of the amounts that were raised, and how they would be divided between the charities.
In total, the fundraising amounted to £54,547. PIPS (a suicide prevention charity) received £25,000, with £12,500 each donated to MYMY (a mental health charity) and St Vincent De Paul. After expenses were taken out, the remaining £500 went to St John’s Ambulance. Aisling said: “We are still in shock about the amount. We couldn’t believe it when we were counting it. It was unbelievable. “Everyone was so kind and generous. “It is crazy thinking that that is the total. We never thought we would get that amount. “The charities were very grateful. We split it up in a way we thought it would help the charities the most. All the charities were so grateful and appreciative. “We are hoping that what we have given will help as many people as possible.”
James died by suicide in March and the family selected charities that worked with the issues surrounding suicide. Aisling said that support for the Wee James fundraising came from those who wanted to help those touched by suicide. “We knew with James’s story it was quite widespread. “It is a situation that unfortunately an awful of people go through. I think it touched a place in people that they maybe didn’t realise. It brought out this amazing kindness that everybody had. “I do feel that the charities that were picked do amazing work and people wanted to support the work that they do. “It was incredible and we can’t believe how kind everyone has been.”
The family will now take a step back and take a break after what has been a hectic period of fundraising and organising. “It will be so nice to relax. It was all go now for a couple of months. Now we can breathe. “The organising was quite intense and we didn’t have a lot of time to organise. “But everyone was amazing. The amount of help we got from other tractor run organisers was incredible. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without all the advice and support from everyone who has done a tractor run or been to a tractor run. Even the businesses who helped or offered advice about how to run it, we couldn’t have done it otherwise. “We just want to thank everyone who helped with their support.”
