The family and friends of the late, Linda Fitzpatrick, have marked her life by completing a sponsored kayaking river journey, with all proceeds donated to the ISF.
On the August bank holiday weekend, four novice kayakers, Fitzpatrick Beere Byrne and Quinlan (FBBQ) Kayaking Team, undertook a 3-day sponsored kayak from Laois to Wexford to honour Linda’s memory.
The kayaking team included Linda’s brother, Keith and companions Liam Byrne, Owen Beere and Anthony Quinlan. Yvonne Beere Byrne, Liam’s wife and Owen’s sister, took on the task of administration and promotion of the charity fundraiser event.
The local community showed fantastic support in the lead up to the event with local sponsors offering huge raffle prizes to raise funds for equipment and the local scouts offering facilities and training. The kayaking team trained on the river two or three days during the week and practiced sections of the journey on the weekends.
Yvonne said of the community’s support, “I am humbled by the generosity, we appreciate every single euro people gave. Irish people are so generous.”
The community raised an incredible €8,185 and are pictured below presenting the cheque to members of the ISF. We would like to thank Linda’s family and friends, and all those who worked so hard on this event, for their generous donation and kind support of the work the ISF does.
“She was a very bubbly outgoing girl with a huge sense of humour, very much loved by her family and friends. She was easygoing and always ready to chat and help as much as she could. There was just a lovely energy from her,” Yvonne said.
We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to Linda’s family and friends, may she rest in peace.
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