Charlies children's charity is on the road again

Time to ride for charity again !!

Nomad Riders are the Fundraisers (fun-racers?) and the orphanage kids are once again the receivers.
The yearly Charity Ride to Nakhon beach for Charlie's Children is on September 18th 2015. 
Charlie from CC Beach is one of the biggest caretakers of the orphanage kids in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Every year he arranges a trip to the beach with fun and BBQ for the kids. Charlie is the main man in the charity ride, since he is the promoter of the charity events! His budget is around 200,000 Baht for this event and lots of the citizens and even some official members of government are involved in the project.

This year, as many years before,  the Nomad Riders crew will ride together from Phangan to Nakhon to hand over the donations they have collected from the bikers and the Phangan family here.
Many volunteers like teachers from Surat Thani and Samui and some of our Jungle Experience people here, are riding along with the riders for the Charity Ride to Charlie’s Children!!

They ride from Phangan on the 18th and on the 19th they all meet in Nakhon where they attend the big reunion party in the night, before the next day making their way to the orphanage.
All the money from the bar this night is of course also collected and donated the next day!

The Beach day itself is a blast for the kids – and the riders!!
The day begins with the crew renting a bus for all the kids. The first time they only needed one bus but it has grown since then, and on the 19th they will rent 3 busses all together.
As it has been before, all the kids will be waiting (and in their finest clothes) when they arrive. This day is a big day for all the kids and they are all exited and happy to see the riders. After a few years running the event, the kids know what is coming!

First they hand out all the donations. This year Charlie called Carlo and asked if it was possible to donate some underwear for the kids. Many times the clothes the children are wearing are donations from a company or alike, and they will all be wearing the same, like the old staff-uniforms from the local supermarket or so. This year they will ALSO wear underwear beneath!

Then they will all drive out to the beach!
Each kid will be given a SuperNanny who is to take care and be with them all the day.
The beach will be full of activities like a jumping castle, pony riding, banana boat, local Muay Thai boxing show, fire dancers and everything a kid will love.
On the beach-sand they will set up an enormous table with all the delicious food and snacks a kid can imagine! A 12 meter long table with everything you can eat!!

Carlo was telling us about how the kids would run from the water to the table and collect french fries in their shirts so they could run back in the water and sit there and eat the snacks.
These kids do not see either the sea or the beach regularly.
In fact they are never really out from the orphanage and this one day is very very special to them! They are not used to getting any form of attention and definatly not any gifts!! Food is always in a modest amount and activities like these on the beach are unknown to many of the orphans! This kind of love and attention are very unfamiliar to these kids and Charlie and the Riders are doing something that no-one will ever or have ever done to these children before. It is a light in their darkness..

Nomad Riders are known to be happy helpers on Phangan!
Carlo and his Nomad Riders, hosted a biker party back in February and at this event they collected around 40,000 Baht which they all donated to our school here in Baan Tai.
They are always happily collecting donations all year around in their Handle Bar and Blue Top Coffee Shop.

Carlo expresses his gratitude to Shiralea.com, a back-packer resort in Had Son here on Phangan. They just donated everything from their “Lost & Found” box that no one came to collect. Every 3rd month they empty the box and donates it the Charlie’s Children through Nomad Riders.
A good idea for any resort to consider !!! Do not hesitate to contact Carlo for any further information on the matter! He says himself, that him and his crew will be very happy to help out in any way possible, without any further inconvenience for the donators!!

Lots of private people also provide donations! Right now they have two strollers in the bar, that they would either like to sell or if it is more convenient, rent out.
If anyone else is packing for home and realizing there is no need to bring this or that, please consider a donation for Charlie’s Kids through Carlo!
The collection is always running and every Baht counts!

The only rule they have, is that they never grant money. They provide food, diapers, schoolbooks, clothes, milk powder for the babies and everything else that is needed, but they do not donate the money itself. They always make sure that the donations are used practically and immediately to and only for the kids!!!

Julie and Patrick, friends of the Riders, have been very kind to make “Thank You” bracelets for any donator! – to be fair, it IS Julie’s work more than Patrick, but we let him get a bit of the credit too 
When Phanganist passed by for a cold draft beer and a chat with Carlo and his sweet wife Nid, our friend Pi Wan dropped by too to deliver their car for the day to Carlo, so that he could drive around and collect clothes from donators, among them the Shiralea Back-packer resort.

It is no more than two months ago that they delivered the last donation and – as you can see below on the photo – the next collection has already begun!
This collection will run until the 18th of Sep. where the bikers, once again, will ride for charity and Charlie’s Children!!

All Donations are very welcome. They can use pretty much everything. Second hand clothing, flip flops - all from baby to adult. Their crew will clean it, wash it and sort it out. Babies and kids stuff will go to the orphans and adult stuff to a mental home. You can donate at the handle bar opposite FABIO'S pizza. Thank you ;)
 

Please do not hesitate to contact Carlo for any information regarding either the ride or donations!
He will be very happy to answer any of you questions!

And with that said; clean your house, shop or business out and donate what you can for the orphans in Nakhon. Find a backseat on any of the riders and ride along with the Bikers on their yearly Charity Ride for Charlie’s Children!!