Hacketstown donates almost 500 toys to children in need
Fr Terence McGovern, Edel Byrne, Garda Pat Courtney and Probationer Garda Mark O'Mahony pictured with the toys that were donated by the parish of Hacketstown Photo: Michael O'Rourke Photography
ALMOST 500 toys of all shapes and sizes were donated by the people of Hacketstown for the annual Toy Sunday appeal.
Over a weekend in December, the community of Hacketstown was asked to donate a toy or donate a sum of money to the toy appeal, a tradition that’s been going on since 1998. Fr Jim McCormack, the late, much-loved parish priest, started the toy collection when he first moved to Hacketstown after being based in Tallaght. He saw first-hand how some children weren’t as fortunate as others in the Dublin suburb and so started the appeal, which has gone from strength to strength over the years.
Current parish priest Fr Terence McGovern now leads the campaign and proudly handed over the consignment of toys to Garda Pat Courtney, who came from Tallaght to collect the goodies.
Both Garda Courtney and Edel Byrne, a local nurse who works in the Tallaght area, are involved in distributing the toys to the youngsters who need them.
“We’d an excellent turnout this year. We have toys for all age groups, so there’s a good variety. We’d like to thank the people of Hacketstown for their generosity,” said Edel.
