Emily Duffy (left) and Lucia
Quinney Mee (right) were
announced as the winners
of the 2017 Pramerica Spirit
of Community Awards at
the Awards’ ceremony held
at Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Dublin on 23 March 2017. ALL-IRELAND YOUTH
VOLUNTEERS 2017
The two youth volunteers were
selected from hundreds of youth
volunteers across the island of
Ireland for exemplary work in
their respective communities. !
!
!
Emily and Lucia each received a
gold medallion, €1,000 for a
charity of their choice, a crystal
trophy for their school and an
all-expenses paid trip to
Washington D.C. to meet up
with youth volunteers from
across America and participate
in the Prudential Spirit of
Community Awards ceremony.
!
Emily is from Newcastle West,
Co. Limerick and is a sixth year
student at Desmond College.
She volunteers with the
Mendicity charity and developed
the Duffily bag designed to
protect homeless people that is
now manufactured by service
users of the charity.
Emily was initially moved by the
high levels of homelessness in
her community which she learnt
about through her school, and
was motivated by the struggles
faced by homeless people daily. 2015 set up the campaign ‘Live
Loudly Donate Proudly’.
She began volunteering with
Mendicity, a charity that
employs homeless men and
helps enable them to start a new
life. Working closely with the
service users, Emily ensured
that her invention met their
needs and requirements and
also developed a production
process with them to ensure
efficient production. Lucia believes that education is
key and strives to get organ
donation onto the national
school curriculum to encourage
young people to have educated
conversations with family and
friends regarding their decision
about organ donation.
!
Emily spent countless hours on
the final design and production
of the Duffily Bag that now
protects homeless people from
the harsh conditions they
experience living on the streets.
!
Lucia is from Ballycastle in Co.
Antrim and is a sixth year
student at Cross and Passion
College. She had her first liver
transplant at the age of eight.
Following two additional
transplants, Lucia is extremely
passionate about the incredible
gift of organ donation and in
T Y UPDATE MAY 2017
!
!
A keen swimmer, Lucia has also
competed in the British and
World Transplant Games which
highlights that the gift of life
allows people not only to live,
but to thrive. Having just been
selected for the 2017 World
Transplant Games in Malaga,
she wants to make organ
donation the norm rather than
the exception, with ordinary
conversations leading to
extraordinary gifts.
!
Also highly commended in the
junior category were Daniel
Ritchie from Carrickfergus and
Aishling Dunphy from Co
Tipperary.