Niel Poulsen

The Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drives began in 1998 after Alice and Niel Poulsen met up with a few of the Jesters MC Thailand members. An informal meeting ensued with Kim Fletcher and friends at Delaney’s (now Shenanigan’s) and the seed to start a charity drive began. The result was a hastily thrown together effort consisting of one Platinum Sponsor (Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services) and one event, a Pub Night of raffle drawings and auctions. It was held in early September at Delaney’s and we raised 1 million baht for our sole beneficiary, the Fountain of Life Center.

Sports Day

In 1999, we started our Jesters Children’s Fair, Sponsored Bike Ride (aka, Nappy Rash Ride), to go along with our Pub Night. The venue for the Fair was at the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel in the lush gardens across from the Peach Convention Hall. One of the highlights of the Fair was the out-of-shape Haven’s Heavy Haulers beating the muscle-bound, clad in red Universe Gym team. We raised 1.4 million baht.

Our events for the Millennium Charity Drive were held at the Amari Orchid Hotel in north Pattaya. The Fair was held in the lower gardens across from the beach and the Pub Night at Henry J. Bean’s. The governor of Chonburi attended the Fair and soon after the Fountain of Life Center obtained their official status as the Good Shepherd Foundation. In 2000, we broke the two million baht barrier when we raised 2.2 million baht.

Then On to the Bayshore!
In 2001, we moved the Fair to the Siam Bayshore Hotel in south Pattaya and our Pub Night back to Shenanigan’s. Shenanigan’s also became a Platinum Sponsor, which along with Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services, was the first time we had more than one Platinum.
Erik Sorensen also was a huge help this year when he raised over 253 thousand baht for the Sponsored Bike Ride on his own (plus getting Platinum Sponsor Orkide Ekspressen on board).

This was also the year our website was initiated courtesy of Susie Ngamsuwan. We kicked off our Pub Night with Chris Kays and the Pattaya Panthers holding their slave auction to get the festivities rolling. We raised 2.65 million.

Lewis "Woody" Underwood

The next year, 2002 we finally found a home for our Children’s Fair, when Khun Sopin (Noi) from the Diana Group offered us the spacious grounds of their Diana Garden Resort and Driving Range. Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services was our Platinum Sponsor for the 5th consecutive year. We now had 7 Platinum Sponsors. This was the year we broke the 3 million baht level with 3.3 million baht in donations.

In 2003, everything clicked. We had 2.2 million baht in corporate sponsorship with 11 Platinum Sponsors plus a half-million baht from our fledging Pledge Program. We also had our biggest Fair to date with 72 stalls and the auction at our Pub Night, headlined by Beckham signed jerseys and footballs, garnered close to 500 thousand baht. The end result was that we cracked the 4 million baht level, which was distributed among our 4 beneficiaries.

Sister Joan meeting the Jesters

For 2004, on the eve of the main events for our 7th Annual Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive, we already have 16 Platinum Sponsors, including over 2.5 million baht in corporate sponsorship, which is the most we have ever collected at this juncture.

Since our inception until last fall, we have raised and distributed 14 million baht to our beneficiaries. Our goal is to keep giving it our all, and to raise as much money as possible for as many children’s causes as possible.