McHale Gives Back to the Community
Dancers Collect for Viva House Donation
Throughout the year, dancers and their families donate food to the Viva House, the home of the Baltimore Catholic Worker. The donations are delivered to the house by Linda McHale Poggi.
Advocacy work and services through its soup kitchen account for much of Viva House’s work. And with the soup kitchen being the primary focus of Viva House, McHale School of Irish Dance strives to help their mission with collections such as those shown here.
Collecting Contributions for Janey Richard
McHale School of Irish Dance is putting together a care package for Jane and her older brother, Henry.
What are we looking for? Anything you and your child would like to send—cards, drawings, notes, coloring pages, stuffed animals, books,games, craft items, coloring books, Barbie® dolls, etc. We would also like to collect some Lego and other "boy stuff" for Jane's 12 -year-old brother.
Opening the packages, reading cards, notes and pictures, and hugging stuffed animals will help take a few minutes of pain away from Jane and her family.
Linda has told Eileen, Janey's dance teacher, that McHale School of Irish Dance will send a package to Clifden Academy. Eileen in turn will be sure Jane and her brother receive it.
You may bring your donation to class or drop it off to Linda McHale Poggi at her home. Feel free to contact Linda directly for more information about the collection.
Thank you all for your donations.
Originally posted April 22, 2014.
On April 15th the Richard family was watching the Boston Marathon when bombs exploded nearby. Their young son Martin was killed. His younger sister, Jane, and his mother remain seriously injured. Jane was an advanced beginner at Clifden Academy of Irish Dance.
Irish Dancers have so much in common and we are like one big extended family. Irish dance schools around the country, and indeed around the world, are reaching out to the Richard family as they face a future with a very different landscape than before April 15th.
Originally posted April 29, 2013.
Wanting to do more, the school decided to launch "Tees for Jane" and donate proceeds to the existing Richard Family Fund.
Tees are $20 per tee including shipping. Click here to download the order form. You can email the PDF back to teesforjane@gmail.com or mail it to the address on the form. Available sizes are included on the form.
Thanks for supporting Jane and Richard family!
Irish Dancing and Culture Magazine included McHale's efforts in their current issue. In a two page spread on the efforts of various efforts for Jane Richard, McHale's Tees For Jane was included, along with a photo from the beginning of the campaign.
Originally posted June 22, 2013
Tees for Jane has received a great response!
Thank you to everyone who has purchased shirts so far. We have sold more than 1,000 shirts all over the U.S. and Canada.
Proceeds from all shirts sold will be sent to the existing Richard Family fund. More information about the fund can be found at richardfamilyfund.org.
Tees are $20 each including shipping. Click here to download the order form. You can email the PDF back to teesforjane@gmail.com or mail it to the address on the form. Available sizes are included on the form.
Thanks for supporting Jane and Richard family!
For more information about the background of our campaign, click here.
Dancers from the McHale School of Irish Dance show their support for Jane.
Orignally posted November 25, 2013
The Tees for Jane campaign continues to receive orders!
As we have watched Jane heal and move forward with the grace of an Irish dancer, we continue to sell hundreds of shirts with the For Jane graphic all over the U.S., Canada, and places across the world and as far as Australia.
Shirts are still available and proceeds from all shirts sold are being sent to the existing Richard Family fund. More information about the fund can be found at richardfamilyfund.org.
Tees are $20 each including shipping. Click here to download the order form. You can email the PDF back to teesforjane@gmail.com or mail it to the address on the form. Available sizes are included on the form.
Thanks for supporting Jane and Richard family!
For more information about the background of our campaign, click here.
Originally posted May 7, 2014
The Tees for Jane campaign thanks you for supporting Jane Richard and her family!
In May, 2014, we will send our last check from the Tees for Jane campaign to the Richard family in Boston. With the help of supporters from all over the globe, we were able to donate $14,600 to the Richard Family Fund.
To raise the money, we sold shirts that featured a pair of blue ghillies bearing the words “Boston Strong” on the shoes with the text “For Jane” below. If you visit the “Tees for Jane” Facebook page, you’ll see people wearing these shirts from all over Baltimore and Boston, as well as folks from Canada, Ireland, Australia, and more!
Over the past year, we were continually amazed by the number of orders that arrived from a variety of Irish dance schools and thrilled when images showed up on our Facebook page with those schools wearing the shirts.
We are proud to have been able to donate to the Richard Family Fund and thankful for your support.
For more information about the fund visit richardfamilyfund.org.
Rev. Rosemary Beales showing her support for Jane and the Richard Family while visiting Iona Abbey, Isle of Iona, Scotland.