A Woodlawn Irish dance studio has exceeded their expectations in raising funds for Lindsay Gill and her family. Lindsay (12) and her sister Kalie (15) were struck by a runaway car in October. Kalie died from her injuries while Lindsay remains in hospital recovering from internal injuries and several broken bones.

The McGough Academy of Irish Dance, located just blocks from where the tragedy took place, held their First Annual Halloween Party designed to raise funds for the Gill family.

Meagan McGough, the academy’s director told IrishCentral why they chose to host the event: “Kalie and Lindsay Gill were best friends with my two championship students enrolled at the McGough Academy: Tara Nizamov and Michaela McGeever.  Tara and Michaela are very supportive of the younger students in the school and myself and Megan DiBiase (TCRG) wanted to show our support for not only the Gill family, but for our own students who have supported us for the past two years since the McGough Academy's inception.”

The tragedy, which shook the community, young and old, has been difficult to deal with. McGough said “We have seen our students grieve the loss of Kalie Gill and we cannot even imagine what the family is going through during this very difficult time.”

Along with the assistance of the McGough Academy teachers (Megan DiBiase , Aishling O’Reilly and Roisin Carlin) McGough hosted a party for 75 students and 35 parents. Most notably, Yonkers Councilman Dennis Shepherd was in attendance at the fundraiser and offered his support for the cause.  John McLoughlin of Celtic Craftworks donated the grand raffle prize, which raised over $400.00 for the family. 

As a result of the support from the Woodlawn and Yonkers community, The McGough Academy far exceeded their original fundraising target and raised over $2,000 for the Gill family.

McGough added “I was shocked with the tremendous turnout and support we had for the event...The community is extremely supportive and we all know how to come together when one of our own is in need.”