Fundraising

Travelling to Ireland to compete every year tends to be a bit expensive especially with airfare increasing every year and a horrible euro exchange rate. If you are a girlscout, you sell cookies. If you are in a sport, around here you either sell candy or stand in the middle of the street at an intersection asking people to throw coins in a container.

The past couple years, we've had a wonderful group of people helping us raise money for Haley to go to Ireland by holding a ceili. This year Haley and Dylan will be competing and another little girl from our area, Emily, will be competing on harp.

We are planning a large ceili (Gaelic for dance) next month. Some local musicians will come help play live music and area dancers plus some friends and family who have never attempted Irish dancing will come out for an evening of music and fun. The kids will play during breaks between dance sets and we'll hold a Chinese auction with donations from area businesses.

Next weekend, all three kids are going to play at a local restaurant for tips plus the restaurant has kindly offered to give them a percentage of their profits for the evening. Besides that they have done some busking in a city park and my own kids have had a few local gigs. The kids are working hard and seeing the results of all their hard work. Hopefully they will raise enough to offset at least half the costs.