PayPal donates €65,000 to Irish charities

• Seven charities received donations as part of the PayPal Gives programme
• SOSAD Dundalk, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and the Rape Crisis Centre were among the charities nominated by teammates
• Three more organisations received funding through the company’s Financial Inclusion Charity Grant initiative

PayPal today announces that it has donated €65,000 ($80,000) to ten Irish charities. Seven of the charities received funding as part of the PayPal Gives grant programme. Another three organisations received grants through PayPal’s Financial Inclusion Charity Grant initiative.

PayPal employees at the Dublin and Dundalk offices nominated the following charities through the PayPal Gives programme, which empowers teammates to support the communities in which they live and work through volunteering and employee-sponsored grants. Each of the organisations received €6,900 ($8,500).

• Child Vision, which helps visually-impaired young people, will use its contribution to provide advanced eye glaze technology to aid the development of sensory skills.
• The Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre will use the funding to provide those affected by cancer with a safe and holistic environment.
• SOSAD (Save Our Sons And Daughters), an organisation that helps those dealing with suicide, will put the money towards an IT upgrade and a refurbishment of its client area.
• The Louth Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will use the contribution to assist with improvements to its facilities.
• The Alzheimer Society of Ireland will invest its donation in social clubs for people living with dementia and their carers.
• The Louth/Meath branch of Down Syndrome Ireland, which is dedicated to being the primary source of information and support to people with Down Syndrome, is using the funds to support its education and employment officers.
• The Rape Crisis Centre is putting the donation towards specialised counselling and support services for young people who have experienced sexual assault or abuse.

Three more charities received funding as part of Ireland’s Financial Inclusion Charity Grant programme, which aims to help people and organisations who struggle to secure affordable financial services. ALONE, the Irish Youth Foundation and Sonairte Ecology Centre were selected for their innovative ideas.

ALONE, which helps older people to live in their own homes, received €8,900 ($11,000) to fund its Launch Bwell mobile app. This software will form a major part of the ALONE technology platform, which aims to promote financial inclusion for those aged 60 and over.

In a bid to develop young people as social entrepreneurs, the Irish Youth Foundation is eager to develop its YouthBank programme using the donation of €4,800 ($6,000). The organisation is dedicated to meeting the needs of vulnerable young people living in disadvantaged circumstances.

Sonairte Ecology Centre, a not-for-profit educational charity that focuses on sustainable living, received €2,800 ($3,500) which will be invested in the establishment of a permanent social enterprise within the organisation.

Maeve Dorman, Vice President of Merchant Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, PayPal, said: “PayPal Gives and the Financial Inclusion Charity Grant programme are reflective of the culture within PayPal. We think it’s right to involve everyone in PayPal in helping to decide which good causes we should support. It is fantastic to see so many charities benefit from the programme and we are proud to support the invaluable work that these organisations do in our local communities. It also means a lot to our teammates to see the real impact they are making in people’s lives.”