Liam Duggan woke up one day with an ambitious dream – he decided he wanted to build a children’s hospital.
“I remember waking up one morning with the slogan ‘I may be crazy but I want to build a children’s hospital’ repeating in my head.” – Liam Duggan
Instead of just dreaming, he decided to do whatever he could to make it happen. As a single father and self-employed taxi driver of 22 years, he didn’t have many philanthropists or wealthy donors in his phonebook, so he took to the streets.
Using a piece of cardboard and permanent marker, he made a simple sign to hold outside of a local cafe and asked passers by to donate to his cause.
Now, three years later and many days spent gathering spare change, he may not have his own hospital, but Liam is making a huge donation to an existing local children’s hospital.
He has now raised over 150,000€ (about $165,000+ USD) towards buying a new paediatric MRI scanner.
MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging – they use powerful magnets and radio waves to produce detailed pictures of the inside of the body. They are commonly used to diagnose tumours, brain injuries, dementia, stroke, and other neurological conditions that show in the spine or brain.
MRIs are a valuable resource for any hospital, but let me tell you, they are not cheap.
The going rate is a whopping 1,000,000€! Yes, that’s six zeroes.
But that number wasn’t daunting to Liam. He has remained dedicated to achieving his charitable dream over the last few years, raising money in both rain and sunshine, accepting small change, old coins, and re-patriated foreign coins.
Every little bit counts!
“We have spent the last three years collecting in supermarkets, shopping centres and on the streets of South Dublin.” Liam Duggan
They now have about 200 boxes on the counter tops in various retailers around the city.
But Liam’s troop of spare change collectors has grown quickly! Since 2016, his cardboard sign has evolved into a fully-fledged charitable foundation called Koins For Kids.
Liam and his foundation have set their 1,000,000€ goal for 2023, and are on track to achieving it.
They have been keeping a list of retailers from around Dublin, Ireland where they have received donations and recorded the amount for each of the locations to the cent!
Liam was inspired to persevere thanks to the wise words and advice from former US president Barack Obama.
“I read a book written by Barack Obama before he was known worldwide. He was in this kind of business. His advice was to keep going; do not give up—and I have taken his advice. I do not intend to give up.” – Liam Duggan
What an amazing, generous, and ambitious man! We wish him all the best with this amazing undertaking.
If you’re interested in donating but don’t live in Dublin, they are now also accepting a more modern form of payment through their website, by using PayPal.
You can donate to the noble cause by clicking here!
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