With communion season approaching, many parents across Ireland will be scrimping and saving to give their kids the best day out they can.
Now a mum-of-two from Dublin has set up a service to loan out communion dresses and suits free of charge to help take pressure of families in need.
Kirsty-Cyans McGill didn’t mean to start a large-scale drive for dresses with The Keepsake Box – she originally shared a post on Facebook offering to loan her daughter’s communion dress to someone in need and to do their hair for the day.
“It completely snowballed; within 48 hours I had the offer of 100 dresses offering different sizes and styles,” Kirsty told The Irish Sun.
She’s also had messages from many families who need help with outfits for their children.
“Some people have contacted me through the page and said this is my situation, I’m in a hotel or whatever, or some woman whose husband has just lost his job, things like that.
“People want the best for their kids and you can’t tell your kid ‘no, you can’t have a dress like that or a fairy-tale like that because we don’t have that kind of money’.
“It’s really difficult as a parent because you want to give your child everything that they want.”
Kirsty and her children, 14-year-old Kayleen and Rylan, eight, have been through a hard time themselves in recent years.
Kirsty’s partner Christopher died last May. As well as loaning out dresses, she’s now hoping to raise awareness of organ donation.
Three lives were saved thanks to Christopher, who was an organ donor, and Kirsty is now distributing organ donor cards with each dress and outfit.
“Even [if] one person through The Keepsake Box uses the donor card and saves one life, this will all have been worth it anyway.”
You can find out more about The Keepsake Box on Facebook.
