St. Patrick’s Parade fundraising steps off

The Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade — the parade that cares and shares — kicked off its fundraising efforts for the 2015 parade at RJ Daniels on Oct. 11.

Every year, the parade donates money to three charities: a local charity, a national charity and an Irish charity.

This year’s charities are The Katie McBride Foundation, a local charity devoted to supporting the families of victims of childhood leukemia and other life-threatening diseases; The Hance Family Foundation, a national charity seeking to ensure healthy, happy and safe childhoods through its innovative self-esteem educational programming; and The Dublin Children’s Pilgrimage, an Irish charity that, for almost 30 years, has been sending special needs children from the Dublin Diocese to Lourdes where they are joined by thousands of children from around the world for Children’s Seek in Lourdes.