The Saturday, January 14, 2023 Pattaya Impact Project 2023 at the Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand. Group photo of the charity organizers, volunteers and special education teachers. Children dancing on stage. Charity event banner created by Angelina Wang, Presidio Education® Sustainability Team Leader. Photograph 2023.
SUSTAINABILITY
Pattaya Impact
Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand
On Saturday, January 14, 2023, Presidio Education® and Palisades Contemporary Living organized a superhero-themed charity day for special needs orphans at the Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand. We were able to gather over $4,000.00 United States Dollars (USD) in donations from local Thai companies, friends and foreigners. These donations helped us provide toys, hot meals and desserts for over 260 orphans.
We chose a superhero-themed day to inspire the children. Paul Guthrie (Batman) from Palisades Contemporary Living in Pattaya, Thailand, came up with the idea to help this specific school. Paul asked Ryan Young (Aquaman), Founder & CEO of Presidio Education® in San Francisco, California, United States, to help him organize this charity event. Angelina Wang, Presidio Education® Sustainability Team Leader, created the charity event banner to showcase many of the generous sponsors.
Many local families, expats and friends joined us on this special charity day to play with the children. Along with serving hot meals, we also handed out ice cream and tasty snacks. The children also had a lot of fun playing with us and each other. These interactions sparked a lot of curiosity and smiles among the children. They were truly heartwarming. The variety of new toys gave the children a lot of encouragement. This is why we hope to transform this charity event into regular events.
Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children opened in 2009 to protect, nurture and teach special needs orphans. The children often rely on donations from the local community. Unfortunately, this special needs school was unable to hold special events for the past three (3) years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why holding an event now was so important since many COVID-19 regulations in Thailand are beginning to relax. We wanted to show these poor orphans that they were not forgotten. We wanted them to know that our community is there for them.
Local news reporters came to cover our charity event. Since many of our volunteers were English-speaking expats, we conducted interviews for both Thai and English-speaking audiences. Our hope is that community members will understand why we need their help to support these orphans on a more regular basis. Besides providing new toys, we hope community members will help provide nutritious food, as well as vital education and hygiene supplies to this school. The potential for wider communities to help is enormous, which is why we are very grateful for all the positive news coverage given for these orphans. Please watch The Pattaya News Thailand's Sunday, January 15, 2023 YouTube report "A very special look at Children's Day at the Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children" for clips of the children playing and interviews from the founder of the school and Paul Guthrie.
We would like to thank everyone involved, especially the local Thai community, teachers, volunteers and sponsors, for their wonderful encouragement and financial support. Please contact our Sustainability Team to find out how you can help these special needs orphans at the Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children. Even if you live overseas, you can still coordinate with us to help these orphans. Thank you!
A Few Words from Aquaman
Presidio Education® Founder & CEO (English Teacher)
There is nothing more deeply moving than spending time with orphans. Special needs orphans especially are vulnerable and need important resources, such as educational and medical support. In a developing country such as Thailand, gathering sufficient resources for special needs children is a very difficult challenge. This is only compounded when these children are orphans. Without families, these poor, vulnerable children need our help the most. Above all, they need love and hope. They need to know that they are loved by people around them.
Even though many local Thai community members joined our charity day event, many of our event organizers, volunteers and sponsors were actually expats. Some of our sponsors that donated money actually live on the other side of the world. This should demonstrate that kindness is not limited to geography. We encourage others to contact us about helping these special needs orphans from Teacher Boonchoo Home for Special Children. Our Sustainability Team encourages students, parents, family and friends to be more proactive with protecting children that so desperately need our love.