Deirdre O’Kane helped launch the Barretstown Summer Appeal 2018 with Abbie Colfer from Carlow this week.
The non-profit charity, which is based at Barretstown Castle in Ballymore Eustace, runs free residential camps and programmes for children and their families affected by cancer and serious illness.
This year’s summer campaign, which runs through June, is all about the power of laughter.
When a child becomes seriously ill, family life becomes about fighting for survival and laughter is lost. Even when a child starts to get better physically, the psychological scars of their illness remain.
Hospitals treat the illness, but Barretstown treats the child. Through its medically endorsed programme of Therapeutic Recreation, children start to rediscover the magic of being a child. They start to laugh again; they start to heal.
Since they first opened their gates in 1994, they have brought the magic of Barretstown to over 45,000 campers.
The charity are asking people to help keep these children smiling by texting LAUGHTER to 50300 to donate €4 to Barretstown.
*Text costs €4. Barretstown will receive a minimum of €3.60.