John Mitchell and John Kane of the Development Company with the Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke at the International Charity Bazaar cheque presentation ceremony. Photo: Jimmy Penroll at Photojpen.ie

The week before Christmas saw a very welcome donation to the Saint John of God Development Company in the form of a cheque for €10,000 from the International Charity Bazaar for the Ebola Campaign. The following day we received €65,000 to help prevent Ebola in Ghana and €450,000 for mental health outreach in the Order’s service in Malawi – over half a million Euros in two days!

 Executive Director of the Development Company, John Mitchell, says “The Brothers in Sierra Leone greatly appreciate the help they have received from Ireland. Manager of Saint John of God Hospital in Lunsar, Brother Michael Koroma, wrote: "Virus containment is very costly as it involves a lot of money. Your staff and friends in Ireland were amongst the first who reacted on time to save us from this disaster. We could have lost more staff and other patients if not for your emergency response.”

 John continued: “While the Ebola Campaign has been a specific focus last year, most of the money raised by Saint John of God Development Company is for services in Ireland - around €7million in 2014. We are very grateful to all our donors for their support.”

 For more information, log onto www.sjogdonations.ie.