Rotary honours Doreen for ‘making a difference’

The first lady president of the Tullamore branch of St Vincent de Paul has been bestowed with the highest honour of Tullamore & District Rotary club – the President’s Award – in appreciation of her “unstinting service to those in need”.

Doreen Grimes from Tinnycross said she was both “honoured and humbled” to receive the prestigious award for her work with SVP, and paid tribute to her fellow volunteers in the organisation who also give generously of their free time to help

others.

The presentation of a specially engraved silver plaque to Mrs Grimes was made by former President of the Rotary Club and retired Principal of Durrow primary school, Frank Kelly, at a special dinner in Tullamore’s High Street House earlier this month.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Mr Kelly, - who served as Rotary President in 2019/2020 – said his “eyes were opened” to the work of St Vincent de Paul when he first met Doreen Grimes after a group of students from Durrow school wrote and recorded a charity song about homelessness in 2019, and presented the proceeds from their fundraising to the local branch of the organisation.

“When I met Doreen and saw the spread of letters on her desk from people looking for help I was just gobsmacked” he recalls, “here was I as a Principal on a very good salary and she was a volunteer and it struck me that she was doing more work than I was doing.”

When he was subsequently asked to nominate a worthy recipient of the President’s Award, he said he had “no hesitation whatsoever” in nominating Doreen Grimes, but then Covid intervened in 2020, and it took another two years before she could be formally presented with her award.

“Doreen is a woman of some substance, and she is someone who is really making a difference to the lives of those in need,” said Mr Kelly. “She worked hard all her life, and at a time when she could have chosen to sit back and enjoy the fruits of her hard work she got involved with St Vincent de Paul and took on the huge task of president for a five-year term and ended up doing a longer stint than she had planned due to Covid.”

He pointed out that the motto of Rotary International is “service before self” and he described Doreen Grimes as “the living embodiment” of that motto.

Originally a member of a large family of 13 from Cokery, Edenderry, Doreen Grimes (née Kelly) came to live in Tullamore after her marriage to Gabriel Grimes in 1960. The couple, who have six children and 10 grandchildren, resided in Connolly Park for many years before moving to Tinnycross.

She was elected as the first lady president of the Conference of the Assumption of SVP having served as a volunteer in the Tullamore shop on Offaly street and also working as part of the Visitation Committee.

“I always felt I could do more so when I was nominated for the position of President by another one of our volunteers, Willie Bryan, I was honoured and delighted,” said Doreen, who quickly adds that the job is “very challenging” and was “doubly challenging” when Covid struck.

“I was lucky to have built up a good rapport with many of our regular clients during my time working as a volunteer in the shop and also when I was doing visitation,” she added, “because when Covid hit all visitation stopped and we had to deal with all requests for help over the phone, which is not the same at all”.

Despite these obvious challenges, she remarked that the local SVP branch has helped huge numbers of people in need during her term as President, and continues to assist people with a wide range of requests for assistance on a daily basis.

One of the areas where she witnessed the biggest increase in requests for assistance during her term of office was in the whole area of education. “We spent a lot of money in helping people with school and college fees, accommodation expenses and on transport,” she added.

Doreen pointed to “a huge need” for financial assistance for those wishing to return to education or upskill. “We have met so many people who are just marginally outside the qualifying criteria for a SUSI grant, so we would do our best to help those people because the SVP firmly believes that one of the best ways to escape the poverty trap is through education.”

She maintained that the current accommodation crisis will result in many more people being unable to access education, particularly at third-level, as they will be unable to afford to pay the huge rents being sought in our major towns and cities.

Doreen, who will celebrate her 80th birthday in September, also paid tribute to her husband of almost 62 years, Gabriel, for his “unwavering support” and said she has “no intention of retiring just yet” from her voluntary work with SVP.

“Even though it is very demanding and we could certainly could do with more volunteers, it is a very rewarding job to know that you have made even the smallest difference to someone else’s life” she ended.

The inscription on the plaque presented to Doreen Grimes by Tullamore & District Rotary Club was taken from the Gospel of Matthew and reads as follows: "For I was hungry and you gave me to eat. A stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me - Presented to Doreen Grimes in appreciation of her unstinting service to those in need of sustenance."