Jesters Care For Kids 2014, Sponsored by Glencore International and Canadian Jackalope Open
Our Children’s Fair is only 50 days away on Sunday, September 7th at Regents School followed by our Gala Party Night on Saturday, September 20th at the Amari Pattaya. At this time, we thought it would be appropriate to look back to the beginning at what we thought was just ‘another one-off project’ and how it morphed into a full-blown charity drive.
1998: Alice Poulsen from PILC approached members of the Jesters MC Thailand about the Fountain of Life Center and helping slum children get safe shelter and education. A meeting ensued at Delaney’s with Neil Sandilands, Kim Fletcher and friends and the idea of a fund-raiser was born.
The result was a Pub Night with auctions, raffles and live music, sponsored by one platinum sponsor (100,000 baht), Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services, and augmented by a sponsored push bike ride. The result was over 1 million baht.
The committee models the 2002 event shirts.
1999: A second event, the Jesters Children’s Fair, was conceived to accompany the Pub Night. The inaugural venue for the Fair was the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel. A highlight was the tug-of-war when the unfit Haven’s Heavy Haulers beat the muscle-bound Universe Gym team. The result was 1.4 million baht.
2000: Both events were held at the Amari Orchid Hotel in North Pattaya. The governor of Chonburi attended the fair, which facilitated the Fountain of Life Center getting its official status under the name of the Good Shepherd Foundation. The result was 2.2 million baht.
2001: The Fair moved to the Siam Bayshore Hotel in South Pattaya and the Pub Night back to Delaney’s, which was now named Shenanigans. For the first time we had two platinum sponsors: Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services and Shenanigans.
Ban Jing Jai children look adorable in their 2007 event shirts.
Erik Sorensen raised an incredible 253,000 baht for the sponsored push bike ride and Susie Ngamsuwan initiated our website. The Pub Night was kicked off with Chris Kays and the Pattaya Panthers and Panties holding their ‘slave auction’. The result was 2.7 million baht.
2002: A home was found for the Children’s Fair when Sopin “Noi” Thappajug from the Diana Group offered her premises, the Diana Garden Resort and Driving Range. There were now seven platinum sponsors and the result was 3.3 million baht.
2003: Eleven platinum sponsors stepped up and a new pledge program was created by David Smith and Philip McDonald to accommodate monthly donors. The Pub Night auction was highlighted with signed jerseys and footballs by David Beckham that helped raise nearly 500,000 baht on the night. We now had 3 beneficiaries: the Fountain of Life Center, the Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind and the Eastern Child Welfare Protection Institute in Huay Pong. The result was 4 million baht.
2004: We had 17 platinum sponsors and another successful Pub Night headlined with the auctioning of a jersey signed by the All-Blacks for 110,000 baht. Erik and Robert also raised a remarkable 504,000 baht by cycling from Chantaburi to Pattaya in under 12 hours. The result was 5 million baht.
2005: We now had 20 platinum sponsors and Pub Night, which now followed Kim to Jameson’s, generated 1.5 million baht. The top auction item was Michael Schumacher’s signed photo which went for 150,000 baht. The result was 5.4 million baht that was distributed among 10 beneficiaries.
2006: Twenty-three platinum sponsors joined us and the top auction items were a Siam Country Golf Club Family membership that fetched 135,000 baht and a George Best signed shirt for 100,000 baht. The result was 6.1 million baht.
2007: Steve J. Lake became the first diamond sponsor (400,000 baht). There were 28 platinum sponsors. Robert and Erik raised over 750,000 baht from their sponsored pushbike ride. The result was 7.2 million baht.
2008: Just when we thought it could not get any better, four 4 diamond sponsors came forward and 7 million baht was raised in sponsorship alone. Grammy Entertainment supplied popular B.O.Y. teen band to headline our stage entertainment at the Fair. The result was 7.9 million baht!
2009: This year marked our first 12-year cycle, which saw 3 diamond sponsors and 21 platinums. This was to be Erik and Robert’s last sponsored bike ride. Since 2001, they had pedaled their bikes over 2000 kms and raised nearly 3.5 million baht. The result was 6.8 million baht.
Our first Gala Party Night with Jimmy Page and Chris Hogg.
2010: We had 4 diamond sponsors again, including repeat ones Glencore International, Canadian Jackalope Open and The Herrod Foundation. The highlight of the Party Night was Jimmy Page making a surprise appearance to raise the value of his signed auction items. The result was 6.2 million baht.
2011: Due to a freak storm, we experienced our first rainout at the fair, coupled with severe flooding, which prevented people from getting to the event. The Pub Night evolved into the Gala Party Night and moved to the Amari Orchid Pattaya, which became a sit-down, smart-casual affair with buffet and wine. Jimmy Page showed up again to boost the value of his auction items. The result was 4.7 million baht.
2012: Jimmy was the star again, when he donated his traveling acoustic guitar that went for 420,000 baht in the live auction. Together with the rest of his auction items, he raised nearly 700,000 baht on the night. Otherwise, Diana rented their driving range to a new party, which ended the 11-year tenure for our fair there. The result was 5.4 million baht.
2013: The fair relocated to Regent’s International School Pattaya, which turned out to be an ideal site. Our third Gala Party Night was another resounding success at the Amari raising 1.17 million baht. Once again, Jimmy Page played a major role with his auction items. Since 2008, he has raised over a million baht. The result was 5.2 million baht.
After 16 years of caring for kids, your generosity has provided over 74.1 million baht for over 75 different beneficiaries helping deprived children get access to safe shelter, education and specialized schooling for the disabled.
We could not have done it without you!
If you would like more information, please go to www.care4kids.info, www. facebook.com/jesterscare .kids and/or https://twitter. com/JestersCare4Kid.
