The Tullamore man passed away in May 2020 from Motor Neurone Disease.
The Paddy Fenning Walk is to take place on the 50th anniversary of Offaly’s breakthrough All-Ireland football final win over Galway.
The 5km walk will take a route along the banks of the Grand Canal and conclude at Tullamore GAA Centre.
Paddy Fenning was introduced as a substitute during Offaly’s 1-14 to 2-8 defeat of Galway that secured the county’s first ever All-Ireland senior title in 1971. He was a regular fixture on the team when they retained the Sam Maguire Cup the following year, scoring the only goal of the game in the runaway replay final victory over Kerry.
The Tullamore man, who passed away in May 2020, wanted to raised €150,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease after he was diagnosed with the condition in 2019.
The fundraising initiative was launched before a large gathering at the Tullamore Court Hotel in February of last year with in excess of 1,000 sponsorship cards distributed, though the vast majority of those have yet to be returned given that the pandemic kicked in a number of weeks later. Despite that, the fundraiser recently passed the €100,000 mark.
Organising committee chairman Joe Stewart commented: “With September 26 firmly marked on the calendar, the fundraiser now has a focal point that we can build towards. We know that a lot of people still have sponsorship cards that they agreed to sell with the best of intentions, only for the pandemic to put everything on the back burner.
“With society now reopening and three months until the walk takes place, we would hope that they are now in a position to fill the cards and return them to us as we strive to reach the €150,000 target and drive past it if we can at all.
“The 1971 team has rallied behind the idea with great enthusiasm and it promises to be a terrific occasion as people from various strands of Paddy’s life come together in his memory and for such worthy causes.”
For further information or to make a contribution to the fundraiser, visit paddyfenningwalk.com.
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