WHEN LUKE HERANGI got the go-ahead on his crucial cerebral palsy treatment from St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri, there was just one problem – his family didn’t have the necessary funds to get him there.
Luke, aged 4, has a form of cerebral palsy which will lead to increased spasticity (or tightness) in his leg muscles as he grows, affecting his mobility. Last year, Luke was assessed and accepted for surgery in St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri to permanently reduce this tightness.
That’s where his family’s fundraising efforts, called Get Luke To St. Louis, came in.
In just ten weeks, Luke’s community in Ballybrack rallied around him and raised the money for the life-changing surgery, with the help of Tesco’s Community Fund. They embarked on the fundraising last September – and he flies to St. Louis this Friday, the 13th of March to begin the treatment.
His mother Laura had this to say about the fundraising venture:
“It is really down to the support of so many people who came on board and held coffee mornings, cocktail nights, bag packing fundraisers, and used their blue tokens to vote for our cause in the Tesco Community Fund. The awareness raised in such a short space of time has enabled us to “Get Luke to St Louis” and we will be forever grateful for this support.”
Tesco’s Community Fund is this week celebrating having raised over €500,000 for local groups since its launch last July – with the hope of raising €1m before the year’s end. The Fund goes towards good causes nationwide – as diverse as animal shelters, community creches, intellectual disability support groups, schools and sports clubs.
Every six weeks, three new community causes are nominated in each Tesco store around Ireland – which means you have a say in voting for what local group gets a hand from the Fund next. Customers vote for which of the three initiatives is funded by using a blue token at the check-out – and if you’ve done so since last July, you’ve helped groups in your local area get the funding they so dearly need.
If you shop at Tesco, you can now nominate a cause for the next phase of the Community Fund – anything from a leaky school roof to helping the elderly in your area. Check out how to nominate a cause at tesco.ie/communityfund. Check out some more heart-warming stories about local initiatives and groups that your blue tokens have helped in the video below:
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