Mags GarganCharity witnesses great expression of people’s generosity
Irish parishioners continue to support the world’s poorest to an “incredible” degree, with Trócaire, the Church’s aid agency, revealing that this year’s Lenten campaign raised about €8m.
While the figure currently stands at some €6.4m, a spokesperson for Trócaire told The Irish Catholic that the agency was confident that, when all the final returns from family Trócaire boxes were counted, the total would be around €8m, a significant increase on last year’s total of €7.3m.
In the North, Trócaire’s Lenten campaign attracted funding from Aid Match, under which the British government pledged to match public donations pound for pound. Eithne McNulty, Trócaire’s regional director, reported that, “because of our donors’ generosity during Lent 2014, we will be receiving almost £2.1m extra from the British government.
“This extra money will be invaluable in helping support projects in Malawi and Zimbabwe in the coming years. We can’t thank our supporters enough,” she said.
Generosity
Eamonn Meehan, executive director of Trócaire, told The Irish Catholic that the money was “a great expression of Irish people’s long tradition of compassion and generosity to people living in the poorest parts of the world”. He expressed the agency’s gratitude to “parishes, clergy, families and schools across the country, which every year extend such incredible support to our Lenten campaign”.
Mr Meehan said that at the heart of Trócaire’s work was “a belief in helping people to help themselves, so that they can overcome poverty and determine a better future for themselves”.
This year’s Lenten appeal focused on the global water crisis.