Cork’s kid heroes launch 2020 Mercy campaign campaign
Barra, Kumi, Lizzie, Callum, Alex, Conor, Oisín and Olan are all patients at The Mercy University Hospital, and they have joined forces to ask for your help to support vital cancer services for children in Cork.
This year’s Mercy Heroes campaign was launched this week by some of Cork’s bravest heroes. This year with the extra dangers caused by Covid-19, the campaign is aimed at supporting a special home-based service for these special kids.
The Mercy University Hospital Foundation is encouraging people to support this year’s campaign to raise much-needed funds for The Mercy Kids & Teens Appeal. Funds raised will especially support the unique POONS service.
POONS stands for Paediatric Oncology Outreach Nursing Service and allows children with cancer to receive treatment from the comfort of their own home. The only service of its kind in Ireland, it has provided immeasurable support for Cork’s youngest patients and their families over the last number of years. Covid-19 has now made this home-based service even more vital.
Speaking about the importance of the service, Olga Buckley, Paediatric Oncology/Haematology CNS at The Mercy said: “Being able to deliver a home-based option to sick children has helped enhance their quality of life and allowed for some normalisation of family life during cancer treatment. With the emergence of Covid-19 in Ireland, it has now become absolutely necessary. Our young cancer patients are considered within the critically vulnerable group as their treatment, including chemotherapy, causes immunosuppression. The POONS service will help these patients to stay at home and keep them safe in the months ahead.”
As Cork faces a rise in Covid-19 cases as we head into the winter months, support of this year’s Mercy Heroes campaign can help ensure that these young patients and their families have all the support they need. You can make a difference by making a donation throughout the month of October online at www.mercyfundraising.ie or by creating your own fundraising page and asking friends and family to get involved. Schools around Cork are also being encouraged to join in the fun by holding a Dress Up/Dress Down Day to support these young heroes.
Mícheál Sheridan, CEO of The Mercy University Hospital Foundation emphasized how services like POONS have become so much more important this year. “For the past seven years, The Mercy University Hospital Foundation has proudly provided funding for the POONS service. We have seen, each year, just how much of a difference it has made for our youngest patients and their families.
“Covid-19 has placed an even greater demand on the service as these patients are amongst the most vulnerable in our community and during the first wave of Covid, we provided additional funding so that the service could be expanded to meet their needs. For us, these patients are heroes, our incredible hospital staff are heroes and our donors are heroes too.
“Without our supporters, we could not continue to provide life-changing services like POONS. This year, anyone can become a Mercy Hero. Any donation, big or small, will help make a huge difference. We have seen over the last few months, just how much we can achieve when we all work together.”
If you would like to become a Mercy Hero this October, simply head over to www.mercyfundraising.ie where you can also hear from some of Cork’s youngest heroes about the difference your support will make. To set up your own Mercy Heroes fundraising page, visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/MercyHeroes2020.