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06 Sept 2025

Portlaoise club reaches out to local people with Christmas Tree ribbon appeal to help very special Laois school

Portlaoise Rotary Club hope you can help

Portlaoise club reaches out the local people with Christmas Tree ribbon appeal for a very special Laois school

Portlaoise Rotary Club Tree of Remberance at the Kolbe Centre

Reporter:

Conor Ganly

16 Dec 2020 4:47 PM

Email:

news@leinsterexpress.ie

The Portlaoise Rotary Club is reaching out to local people with a virtual appeal to help a vital school in Laois through its annual Tree of Remembrance Yellow Ribbon fundraiser.
This year the club has chosen the Kolbe Centre Special School as its charity of choice to benefit from the collection which will see ribbons tied to the tree to remember lost loved ones in a different way to usual.
The club is collecting funds via the Rotary Club Portlaoise Facebook page.  Laurie Darcy, a Rotary Club Portlaoise member explained how it will work.
"People who would like to add a ribbon to the tree can send us a private message on Facebook or comment on the name of their loved one under any of our posts. 
"A member of our group will be writing the names onto the ribbons and calling out to Kolbe to attach the ribbons to the tree.  Updates showing the ribbons on the tree will be regularly posted on our Facebook page. 
"Towards the end of the Christmas period when the tree has been taken down, we will be placing all of the ribbons with names into a basket and the basket will be present at an ecumenical service to remember all of those named on the ribbons," said Laurie.
The Kolbe Centre, on the Block Road, educates children with severe to profound intellectual disabilities between the ages of five and 18.
"We are going to do our very best for Kolbe Special School despite covid, as the school is such a special place and funds are always needed by them to be able to give their wonderful service to the 41 children who attend," she said.  
Laurie hopes the public will show the support they have in previous years for the fundraiser which is the first big collection to take place under new President Maeve Furey after taking over the presidency from John O’Brien.
 
"It is looking a bit lonely without the red ribbons, but hopefully that will change in the next few days," she said.
Rotary International is an international service organisation whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-religious organization open to all.

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