A young mother of two, Lisa Dalton, was remembered with a golf classic in Castleknock Golf Club in aid of the Marie Keating Foundation. Lisa passed away on September 18^th 2016 after a courageous battle with breast cancer. At the age of 35, Lisa left behind a loving husband, Conor, and two young children now aged eight and four.

Lisa always supported breast cancer awareness and took part in Mini-Marathon’s, the Colour Dash and the Pink Run to name a few. In memory of Lisa and her love of the Marie Keating Foundation, her family organised the “Lisa Dalton Golf Classic” raising over €30,000 in aid of the Foundation.

Conor Dalton, Lisa’s husband, said: “We have been blown away by the community support and generosity in Lisa’s name. We never imagined we could raise over €30,000! People have been so supportive. It is overwhelming to think how much people care. The Marie Keating Foundation have been amazing, for such a small team we can’t thank them enough and know we couldn’t have raised such an extraordinary amount without their drive and support.”

Linda Keating, Director of Fundraising at the Marie Keating Foundation said: “Working with Lisa’s, Mother, Father, Brother, Husband, Sisters-in-Law, Friends and children on this event has been overwhelming and an absolute highlight for us, raising awareness in the local community is exactly what we are about at the Foundation. It was more than just a fantastic day; it turned into a month of getting so many people involved, from the local community and beyond.  The money that has been raised from the Lisa Dalton campaign will make a real difference to the Foundation in helping us in our fight against cancer and working towards a world free from the fear of cancer.”

Funds from this year’s Lisa Dalton Golf Classic will be designated to support the Marie Keating Foundation’s Comfort Fund. The Marie Keating Foundation provides financial assistance to people who find themselves in financial difficulty as a result of their cancer diagnosis. Being diagnosed with cancer can lead to increased medical costs such as consultant fees and medications, additional expenses from hospital travel and parking and increased utility bills due to extra time at home while recovering, and for the basic costs of fuel costs, electricity bills, childcare costs, to name but a few. This can all happen while a person has reduced earnings because they are too ill to work and family members may have to take time off to help them recover. Many people find themselves overwhelmed by these costs and this adds to the stress of their cancer diagnosis. The Marie Keating Foundation hopes to lessen that burden. The fund accepts applications on behalf of men, women, and children. This fund has been operating successfully since 2004. In 2016 alone, the Marie Keating Foundation’s Comfort Fund helped 531 families on their cancer journey.