DE LA SALLE STUDENTS ALTRUISTIC EFFORTS RECOGNISED

The MS Readathon has been a feature of the calendar in De La Salle College, Dundalk, for the past seven years. Over this period of time a sum of money, in the region of €40,000 has been raised for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland.

Two years ago, in the 2007 Readathon, the College finished third in the secondary schools' section of the Readathon based on the total amount raised, a considerable achievement that was eclipsed in 2008 with a second place finish. This year, students' efforts were rewarded with a total raised amounting to almost €9,900.

Needless to say, the considerable sums involved have been attracting the attention of the organising team at the MS Society headquarters in Dublin. Recently the students of the College and the MS organising teacher, Martin O'Connor were asked to participate in the preparation of a DVD to promote the MS Readathon to other schools and to potential corporate sponsors. Once completed, a copy of this DVD will be sent to every school in the country, both primary and secondary. This is a significant honour for the college and an event that further recognises the contribution made by the students of the De La Salle to the MS Readathon over the past seven years.

On her visit to the school to co-ordinate the shooting of the footage for the DVD, Ms Taragh Donoghoe from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland was presented with a cheque for the amount raised in Readathon '09 by some of the students who had been involved in raising money through sponsorship for the reading they did in October and November of last year.