Archive for Monday, April 14, 2008
Giving the green
The community owes the Lawrence St. Patrick’s Day Committee its gratitude not only for the fun annual parade it stages but also for the thousands of charitable dollars its members raise each year.
April 14, 2008
Advertisement
The public face of the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Committee is a happy group of people, who claim some Irish heritage (at least for the day), staging a festive downtown parade on March 17.
The parade starts in South Park and ends at a drinking establishment in North Lawrence and traditionally goes on rain or shine, including a cool and damp event this year.
The other side of the local St. Patrick's Day Committee, however, is the many hours its members devote to raising funds for some worthy local agencies. In the 20 years since the parade's founding, the group has donated $479,000 to local organizations. This year, the Social Service League and the County Fair Swim Club split $44,000 raised through the 5K Shamrock Shuffle, a dart tournament and other events staged in the months before St. Patrick's Day.
This is a purely volunteer effort that is one of the charitable bright spots of Lawrence. The St. Patrick's Day Committee raises a lot of money and has a lot of fun. Over the years, that money has benefited dozens of local agencies. It's especially nice that the group targets many community efforts that may not have the staffing or formal organization to tap into other funding sources.
The money that the St. Patrick's Day group donated to the Social Service League will help pay for new shoes, eyeglasses and eye exams for low-income youngsters in the community. The money that goes to the County Fair Swim Club will help that group make vital repairs to the neighborhood swimming pool it operates at 2117 Maple Lane. Both groups operate on a shoestring, and the money from the St. Patrick's Day parade will be a major boon to their budgets.
The annual St. Patrick's Day parade is a fun event for the community, but what should really have those Irish eyes - and the entire community - smiling is the support the group provides to some very worthy community projects.
More like this
- 'Lucky' effort 1 comment / March 17, 2006
- 2008 St. Pat's charities chosen 4 comments / October 5, 2007
- IRISH EFFORT January 20, 1999
- Grateful club March 16, 2008
- St. Patrick's Day Committee ready to help area agencies September 13, 2008
Top ads RSS
- Customer Service Representatives • Various shifts available • Monday - ...
- LMH Employment Opportunities
- Research Assistant KU Requires bachelor's degree in biochemistry, chemistry, molecular ...
- KU Center for Educational Research
- INSURANCE ASSISTANT Immediate part to full-time Assistant with life, accident ...
- Obama to promise 17% cuts in U.S. emissions in next decade November 26, 2009 · 47 comments
- Kansas Athletics seeks football fans to invest $34M for Gridiron Club November 27, 2009 · 12 comments
- Blog: How Has Obama's Stimulus Helped You? November 21, 2009 · 83 comments
- Blog: A Snootful Of E-Mails November 23, 2009 · 18 comments
- Blog: In Plain Sight 11/25/2009 November 25, 2009 · 4 comments
- Shoppers hunt for door buster bargains November 27, 2009 · 8 comments
- On the street: Are you a Black Friday shopper? November 27, 2009 · 7 comments
- Blog: Six Wins Might Not Be Enough To Get Ku Into A Bowl November 27, 2009 · 1 comment
- United Way support November 26, 2009 · 19 comments
- Former KU Chancellor Laurence Chalmers dies November 25, 2009 · 36 comments
- Jayhawks: We are focused on Tigers November 27, 2009
- Tight credit slows state’s business development November 27, 2009
- Message warns students at Perry-Lecompton not to attend class today April 20, 2007
- Center of attention: New LAC director acclimates to challenging post November 27, 2009
- Oread owners share view from the top September 24, 2009
- 100 years ago: Haskell celebrates win over Nebraska November 27, 2009
- High school sweetheart recalls the day his life changed forever April 3, 2005
- Witness claims two took turns killing family March 24, 1960
- Musketeers hand KU women first loss November 27, 2009
- Natural scorer: Xavier Henry used to carrying points load November 27, 2009
14 April 2008
at 3:17 p.m.
Suggest removal
Permalink
ahhs (Anonymous) says…
Thank you for the positive comments. It is a hard working group of volunteers. For more information about the committee go to the website.http://www.lawrencestpatricksdayparade.com/