Laois friends set up pop up shop to raise funds for Gaza

Three young mothers from Laois, shocked by the atrocities unfolding in Palestine have joined forces to set up a pop up shop to raise funds for those impacted by the conflict. 

Sisters Elaine Ward and Laura Kelly from Mountmellick and Jennifer Ryan who lives in Portarlington will be hosting an event in April to raise funds to be shared between Doctors without Borders and Gaza Paediatric Care Initiative - a team of medical professionals based in Ireland, whose goal is to help all the children caught in the crossfire of the conflict. 

Speaking to Leinster Express/Laois Live this week Jennifer said after watching the news over the last six months they felt helpless and wanted to do something proactive. 

Sisters Elaine and Laura have a passion for fashion and this led to the idea of a pop up shop selling new and preloved ladies clothes, shoes and accessories.

“It has snowballed from there,” said Jennifer. 

“We thought maybe we could get some friends and local businesses to donate things and we put a reel on Instagram and it flooded.

“We are blown away by the generosity. A boutique in Kilkenny has donated over €1,000 worth of brand new stock.

“We had to try and find a location and we went to Solas Eco Garden Centre here in Portarlington and immediately they said yes.”

Jennifer said while the girls were nervous starting out the project they have been overwhelmed by the amount of people willing to help. 

“We are all enjoying it. It’s a learning curve, just how to do it and the logistics of it. We needed to sort clothes rails, hangers, labels. So far we haven’t had to buy anything out of our own pocket which is amazing.”

The girls said following social media accounts of people on the ground in Gaza opened their eyes to what was happening.  

“We all have young children, the eldest is nine. You would be going about your normal life and going to the park and watching your little girl on the swings and you get these images on social media of babies dying, starving to death and brand new babies left in incubators. It is horrendous. 

“While it is an enjoyable project to be working on it is also very, very real and very, very important. 

“When this started in October you would be having nightmares about things you saw on your phone but we have the privilege of putting our phones down and going back to our normal lives.”

As well as clothes, businesses have been donating beauty products and items to sell and there will be a raffle on the day with amazing prizes including jewellery and shoes. 

The Go Fund Me Page  ‘My Sister’s Closet Pop Up shop in aid of Gaza’ has already raised over €1,000 and the organisers are hoping to raise a couple more thousand on the day. 

“We are aiming for as much as possible,” said Jennifer. 

“We have the Go Fund Me page and we created a QR code, people who can’t make it on the day or don’t live locally will be able to donate if they want to.“

They have already received hundreds of messages from people around the country who are not able to attend but want to donate to the cause. 

The event is taking place on Sunday, April 28 from 10am to 4pm in Solas Eco Garden Centre in Portarlington (R32RPX8). 

You can follow the girls’ social media accounts to keep up to date:

@everyday_lifewithlaura

@thescenicroutebyjen

@myneverendingwishlist