A total of €248,000 raised from St Vincent De Paul South-West's car draw will go directly to people in need in Kerry and Cork.

The charity has thanked the public for its “immense” support raised through ticket sales and donations to both SVP Cork and Kerry since the car draw’s launch in November.

The Society have said they are humbled by the generosity of the public during extremely an extremely difficult and challenging period.

SVP South-West Regional President Paddy O’Flynn said the much-needed funds would be “invaluable” for SVP South-West to continue to assist struggling families in Kerry and Cork and will help fund key supports such as food vouchers and hampers, heat, utility costs and education, with families continuing to contact the Society seeking urgent assistance and support for each of these in recent weeks.

“We have always received immense support for the annual car draw from the people in Cork and Kerry," Mr Paddy said. 

“Even before the war in Ukraine, we predicted a challenging year ahead for 2022, and were conscious that people might not be in a position to donate to us and support the car draw as we are acutely aware of the impact high fuel costs and rise in the cost of living has had on people’s income. Despite this, the public supported us in their droves this year and the 2022 car draw was a huge success. We are eternally grateful to every single person who pledged their support to this year’s car draw."

He added that this money will be used during the coming winter months to support many individuals and families facing hardship, with all of the money raised in Cork going to support those need in Cork, and all the proceeds raised in Kerry going directly to support families and individuals in Kerry.

“Once again, I would like to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated or bought raffle tickets for our car draw, and also a huge thank you to our sponsors the TOMAR Trust for their continued support."