The 4th Annual Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive in Pattaya is well underway in its planning and organizational stages. This popular Charity Drive now consists of two main events: A Children’s Fair, or family outing, that is scheduled for Sunday, September 16th this year at the Siam Bayshore Resort in South Pattaya and a Pub Night of raffles and auctions that will be held on Saturday, September 22nd at Shenanigan’s Irish Pub.

Classroom

The Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive has to date raised 4.6 million Baht for the Fountain of Life Center and its various projects. The Fountain of Life Center (One) in North Pattaya cares and educates the children from the slums by giving them an opportunity to grow up healthy and strong through daily protein-enriched meals, weekly medical check-ups and regular dental care. The Center is also instrumental in providing scholarships for as many kids as possible to continue their education in government schools. The Fountain of Life Center has been the target charity for the local Jesters motorcycle club and the focus for their annual charity drives.

There have been many good things happening at the Center due to the subsequent publicity it has derived from the Jesters Care for Kids Charity. A retired Swiss banker, Albert Farder, stepped up and enlarged the premises to accommodate the increased attendance at the Center. The British Chamber for the Needy in Thailand also erected an additional classroom separate from the premises to serve as a learning environment for the older children attending the center. There have also been generous people, one of which was Gerry Carpenter, who have come forward and donated much-needed vehicles for transporting the kids back and forth to the Center. And most importantly, the Chonburi Governor’s visit to the Children’s Fair last year accelerated the process for the Center receiving official status, and thus is now an accredited organization under the auspices of the Good Shepherd Foundation.

Fountain of Life's daily kids transport

However, the task is never done. Increased attendance at the Fountain of Life has raised operational expenses considerably and required the hiring of more staff. The repair and maintenance cost for the transport vehicles that must endure the twice-daily rough roads to the children’s homes, coupled with rising fuel prices, has increased greatly. The dental program has also escalated to deal with some of the children’s more complex teeth problems. In addition, the rising number of kids receiving scholarships for government schools has gone from 10 to 67 students in 3 years time.

The Jesters’ Children’s Fair was patterned after the famous Ploenchit Fair in Bangkok, but, of course, on a much smaller scale. This year the event was moved from Saturday to Sunday by request from the Pattaya community, especially those that work 6 days a week. The site for the Fair will be located behind the hotel on the grounds of the Siam Bayshore Resort on the grassy expanse next to the tennis courts, and will again feature a climbing wall (provided by JVK Movers) for the older kids and the bouncy castle for the younger ones. There will be myriad of kids’ activities that include volleyball, tennis, aerobics and sports directed by the Royal Garden Spa and Fitness Center. Additionally, many schools in the region, both local and international, will have stalls with other games and creative goings-on.

Furthermore, there will be clowns entertaining the children with tricks and others tying balloons into various things. With food stalls offering a wide variety of cuisines; a beer tent selling donated cases of beer purely for charity; performances by bands and attending celebrities; and the Children’s Raffle with top prize being a bigger than life teddy bear dressed in biker gear, it promises to be a fun day of raising money for disadvantaged kids.