ALMOST €85,000 HAS been donated to the family of Jastine Valdez, who went missing on Saturday after reports that she was forced into a car. Gardaí who were searching for her later found the body of a young woman in Puck’s Castle, Co Dublin.
In the first day where over 3,000 people have donated money to a GoFundMe page, which was set up as a way for Irish people to contribute from afar; it aims to raise money to repatriate her remains.
The goal of €10,000, which is the estimated cost of repatriation, was reached with a few hours of the campaign page being set up.
The 24-year-old, who was an only child, lived in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow with her parents. Last night, hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil in Enniskerry in memory of Jastine.
Speaking about the aim of the GoFundMe, a representative of the Filipino community Raymond Garrett told Morning Ireland:
“There is a [Filipino] term ‘abuloy’ which is giving money to grieving families, and I know the Filipino community made a request at the vigils last night to setup some way that the wider community in Ireland could follow this tradition.”
He added that a number of members of the Filipino community requesting ways to give money to the family.
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