Donegal couple to remember daughter on charity journey across the USA

Rosie and Jim Boyle have spent decades fundraising for children’s charities, both at home in Donegal and further afield, through community events, motorcycle runs and long-standing support for Children’s Health Foundation.

This September, the Killybegs couple will take part in the Route 66 fundraiser for the fifth time, joining fellow bikers travelling across the United States in support of sick children and their families.

For Rosie, the commitment has its roots in personal experience.

“Our daughter Sandra got leukaemia when she was 17,” she explains. Sandra passed away in 1991, just one day before her 18th birthday. In the years before her death, Rosie and Jim made repeated journeys between Donegal and Dublin while she underwent treatment.

“It was a big journey from Killybegs to Dublin. My husband was fishing at the time, so I would leave my other two children with my mum and dad, travel up to Dublin, collect Sandra when she was getting out of hospital and have her back home again within eight hours. We did that for years.”

Fundraising had already been part of Rosie’s life before Sandra became ill, through marathon events and local charity efforts, but from that point on, children’s healthcare remained a constant focus.

“We wheeled Sandra in her wheelchair in the marathon in Dublin for two years, myself and my husband, and we collected for Crumlin Hospital,” Rosie says. “From then on, we put money in every year to some known charity.”

Their involvement in motorcycle fundraising came later, through charity biking events in Ireland and overseas, including organised rides through California, the Alps, Norway and Spain. Rosie, travelling as a pillion passenger on Route 66, says motorcycles were never originally part of her plans.

“I had no intention of ever riding a bike,” she laughs. But once she and Jim became involved in the biking community that quickly changed.

“What we always say about the biking community is that you can meet people you’ve never met before and you’d leave your handbag sitting down and nobody would touch it,” she says. “You’re always looking to see who something belongs to.”

That same sense of community is a key factor in Sandra’s Run, the annual fundraiser organised by the Boyle family in Killybegs, which this year marks its 21st year. Held each summer, the event attracts bikers from across Ireland and beyond, with some years drawing as many as 400 motorcycles and close to 1,000 supporters. We’ve had people come from America, Malta, England and Scotland. The bikes come from all over.”

The fundraiser has become a major annual undertaking, with Rosie personally calling local businesses and factories in Killybegs to ask for support.

“I go around myself with my letter from the hospital and ask them kindly would they donate,” she says.

The wider community also gets involved in the days leading up to the event.

“When Sandra’s Run is coming, we ask the chapels to put up a wee note asking people to hang teddies in support of the sick children,” Rosie says. “The roads are lined with teddies that week.”

Over the course of a single weekend, the fundraiser can raise between €26,000 and €28,000.

“We get back what we give,” Rosie says. “But we love to give.”

She notes that the scale of the Route 66 fundraiser can surprise people. “Everybody may think it’s a holiday,” she says. “It’s not; it’s a big challenge.”

Participants face long days on the road, early starts, heavy traffic and hundreds of miles in the saddle. “You have to be alert at all times,” she says. “Some days you’re on these huge motorways with six or eight lanes. Everybody watches out for each other. Nobody is left behind.”

There are also memorable moments along the way, including the final arrival into Santa Monica, where participants are escorted in by police and welcomed by firefighters.

“Everything stands still,” Rosie says. “The traffic stops and the police lead you in. It’s amazing.”

More than three decades after Sandra’s death, fundraising remains part of family life, both in her memory and in support of other families facing difficult circumstances.

For Rosie, the motivation remains straightforward.

“If you’ve got your health, you can do anything,” she says. “And if you can help somebody along the way, then why wouldn’t you?”

Rosie and Jim’s journey is just one example of the many ways people across Ireland are supporting sick children and their families. While Route 66 offers participants the chance to take on an unforgettable challenge, there are plenty of other ways to get involved with Children’s Health Foundation, from taking part in a fundraising event or organising your own challenge to donating or supporting one of the Foundation’s annual campaigns. Every donation, fundraiser and act of support helps make a difference for children, young people and families at CHI.

To find out more about how you can get involved and support sick children, visit childrenshealth.ie.