Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive 2013
When Nat Mulford’s primary class from The Regent’s School heard about the Jesters’ Share Love with Friends’ project’ and the plight of Mr. Rung and his family of four, they decided to help him with his recyclables’ collecting. The children had been amassing recyclables throughout the last term of the school year to the extent that they were filling up the corridors of the primary building. School was closing at the end of June for the summer and it was time to jettison the recyclables from the premises.
Our plan was to rendezvous at lunch time with Nat’s class and Mr. Rung and his motorbike with side car, along with two of our pick-up trucks to haul it away in one go. From there we were going to Mr. Rung’s makeshift abode nearby, where he was going to take the labels off the plastic bottles, so he could get 18 baht a kilo, instead of 13 baht with the labels still on.
Bill, Mr. Rung and Woody at the recyclable center with a basket of plastic bottles the students gathered over the last term.
However, Mr. Rung showed up with his wife and youngest son without his motorbike as it was in the shop with engine problems. Instead, they had come with Sam in his car, who heads the ‘Share Love with Friends’ project.
Since Mr. Rung needed money urgently to get his motorbike back on the road, we modified our plan to load up our two pickups to the hilt and go straight to the nearest recyclable center to redeem everything on the spot. Nat and his students eagerly pitched in helping us load our vehicles. The goal for the day was to raise 3000 baht to get Mr. Rung mobile again.
At the center, we helped the workers there unload our recyclables of paper, cardboard and plastic bottles. In order to get 13 baht for the latter, every drop of left over water was emptied from the bottles and weighed sans the plastic caps. By the way, the cardboard and paper brought only 1.8 baht per kilo and less than one baht, respectively.
Nat and his students help us load up the recyclables with Mr. Rung, his wife Tukada and son Lar in the back left.
When it was all sorted and weighed, the reimbursement came to 514 baht, which was way short of our goal to repair the bike. So, from there we decided to go to the mechanic’s shop, where his bike was stored. We talked to the mechanic, who confirmed the 3000 baht charge, and asked him how long it would take to do the job. When he said two days, we handed him the money from our pockets to get it done.
After that, we handed Mr. Rung the 514 baht from the recyclables and told him that we would see him again in 3 days time at our monthly rice distribution for impoverished families like his.
Post note: We are pleased to report that, of this writing, we have just come back from the rice distribution at Nong Prue and we were happy to see Mr. Rung his wife and three kids in their repaired motorbike with side car.
As one can discern, collecting recyclables is very work intensive and time-consuming, reaping meager earnings. But for the poor this is an important lifeline for their day-to-day survival.
Nat and his primary class have pledged to make this a regular gig for Mr. Rung’s family by continuing to collect recyclables for them exclusively throughout the new school year.
If you too would like to help people like Mr Rung and his family, please visit us at www.care4kids.info, www. facebook.com/jesterscare. forkids.
Please do not forget our Main Events coming your way soon:
* Children’s Fair: Sunday, September 8th, at The Regent’s School Pattaya.
* Gala Party Night: Saturday, September 21st, at Amari Orchid Pattaya.
