Fremd gets behind student with drive to help orphans in Thailand
Fremd High School senior Lisa Koenig is a student-athlete on the school's cross county and track & field teams, as well as being a member of National Honor Society, Student Council, and Service Over Self (SOS) Club.
Her father married her stepmother, who is Thai, and moved to Thailand six years ago. Lisa has spent the last five summers with them in Pattaya, and during her third visit there she discovered Baan Jing Jai, a nearby orphanage with children ranging in ages from 1 to 17.
Unfortunately, in this third-world country, the orphanage struggles to meet the daily needs of its children, so Lisa wanted to do something to help. Her dad suggested that she bring back some of her old running shoes to donate, and she did upon her visit the following year. Then in the winter of 2008, she began a shoe drive at FHS to benefit the orphanage.
Things quickly grew from a shoe drive to a clothing drive, to collecting toys and school supplies -- not just with contributions from her cross country team, but from the entire school.
See the rest of Lisa's story here: thaiyourshoes.weebly.com and dosomething.org/project/thai-your-shoes.
- Submitted by District 211
'I don't have that much patience'
Lisa writes:
My father married my stepmom (Thai nationality) and moved to Thailand six years ago. I have spent the past five summers with him at their home in Pattaya.
My stepmom came across Baan Jing Jai after my third visit and volunteered/donated to the home several times before my fourth visit.
On my fourth visit, I met and fell in love with the kids. It was my dad's suggestion to bring back some of my old running shoes when I came back to visit the following year.
I don't have that much patience. And my three or four pairs of shoes were not going to be enough to cover all 63 children. So was born the Thai Your Shoes Foundation.
Things quickly spiraled from shoe drive to clothing drive and from only my cross country team to the entire school. SOS played a huge role in this era of my foundation. They helped me with the drives, hosted a talent show, and decorated and filled bags of toys so that each kid could have a few toys to call their own.
For her gifted project, my friend Victoria Moroney wanted to host a 5K race. She named Baan Jing Jai the beneficiary of her race and together we organized the first Race for Sincere Hearts 5K in Deer Grove East Forest Preserve last May. Our event raised $2,500. We are hoping this year to break $3,000.
A company by the name of Corporate Graphics (my mother's cousin works there) picked up the entire tab for the international shipping costs to get the goods to Thailand.
I spent several days at he orphanage this past summer doing crafts and playing with the kids, but obviously the biggest day of my summer was the great unveiling of the toys, clothes, and that had been collected throughout the school year. The event was covered by Pattaya Mail newspaper and Pattaya News television.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Baan Jing Jai (House of Sincere Hearts)</p> <p class="News">• Currently home to 63 children ages 1-17. • No air-conditioning or modern appliances - dishes and laundry are done outside by hand.</p> <p class="News">• Children do not have their own clothing or toys or a single space or garment they may call their own. Everything is community property. • Laws prohibit Thai children from being adopted to any person of nationality other than Thai. This severely limits their chance of finding a family because most Thai residents in the area are already below what we in the U.S. would consider the poverty level. Most of the children at Baan Jing Jai will never be adopted.</p> <p class="News">• There are two agencies in Thailand which will adopt to foreigners, and even then, the process is lengthy and future parents are not allowed to choose their own child.</p>