Bóthar, which distributes livestock to families across the developing world, has announced a €7 million fundraising drive to mark its 21st year of operations.
Bóthar was established in Limerick in 1991 as an initial one-off gesture to airlift cows to 20 families in a poverty-stricken region of Uganda to mark the city’s “Treaty 300” celebrations. Since then it has grown into one of Ireland’s leading international non- governmental organisations, lifting more than 6,000 families from destitution every year.
The calendar of events to mark the anniversary starts with an Easter appeal aimed at raising more than €160,000 to cover the cost of flying 140 Irish heifers which have been committed by Irish farmers for families in Rwanda.
Bóthar co-founder Pete Ireton is to mark his 60th birthday with a sponsored 60km walk along the river Shannon system on Saturday, April 21st.
Mr Ireton, who recently retired as chief executive of the organisation, said: “I truly believe that one of the reasons for this is because we are such an Irish answer to a global issue. As a nation we are synonymous with agriculture and we use our expertise, right down to our own livestock, in this area to help those in destitution internationally.”
He said the majority of Bóthar’s donated funds came from urban areas, particularly Dublin.
He said the farming community was, of course, key to the effort in terms of donating livestock and had done so right from the earliest moments of the organisation.
“We are particularly delighted this year to be receiving a donation of a calf, which will be airlifted next year, from Eileen Doody and family in Bruff – as 21 years ago her husband, the late Tim Doody, was the very first person to come up to us at our first meeting and pledge a heifer, which was sent on our very first airlift.”