Another Milk Run in the time of Covid-19, the April 24th went as smooth as baby’s behind. We had more volunteers than expected and were able to weigh the babies in addition to giving away pampers and milk formula.
We are seeing the effects of the pandemic on the moms and the communities we continue to serve. The good manners and respect are still there, the slum is still a safe place to go to but there are less smiles, less eye contact and clearly more worry in the air.
The April 17th Rice Run was the first time two guys did a whole day effort and we had one girl show up at 4pm to help make this a great event! We started with the car wash and tire check as is done on every Rice Run Friday morning.
Sister’s 18 year old car still looks like new after the shower. We proceeded to Makro to find that all the 70+ baht rice is gone – the cheapest one was 89 baht per bag and all the rest was much more expensive.
After stopping by Penang Market for the milk formula, we packed the 90 bags of rice, sardines, fish sauce and cooking oil (the last item so generously sponsored by SILK) and we met with one more volunteer in Rang Moo at 4pm.
Our new system of delivering help at 4:00, 4:30, 5:00 and 5:30 worked like a breeze. The three of us were more than enough man (and women) power to handle it. Sister would be really proud.
We had a good Milk Run with 27 moms showing up in Rang Moo and another 18 in Suan Ooy. Covid -19 has affected the volunteer turnout but as Sister Joan set things up, we are able to do the work even if just one of us shows up to deliver.
The Thais are so easy to help, most of them are wearing masks and we also handed out a few to people who didn’t have one. Everyone was observing the social distancing and constant hand washing with hand sanitizers… We registered two more new borns too…
This is a late post done a month after the event. Sorry for the delay, but wanted to post a record of another successful Rice Run we had. In the last three and a half years we haven’t missed a single Firday – it is a true sign of how inspired we all still are about Sister Joan and her work.
In this Covid-19 Rice Run, we had 6 volunteers come (one is missing in the pic above) and we served 86 Thais from Rang Moo and Suan Ooy communities. For the first time ever, we divided the recipients into four separate groups based on the color of their registration cards. Then we asked them all to show up at half hour intervals – 4:00pm (Yellow); 4:30 (Green); 5:00 (Purple) and 5:30 (Blue). Most Thais showed up according to plan and some lingered around – they never seem to be bothered if they have to wait for something…
Sorry for a delay in this post – Covid-19 and a complete change in our lifestyle are to blame.
The mar 27th Milk Run had just 2 volunteers do the work so we couldn’t weigh the babies or distribute any of the clothing donated in the last several weeks. We will get to it when things change and more volunteers are available.
On the 27th, we served 26 moms and babies in Rang Moo and gave away another 17 bags of milk formula in the Suan Ooy community of Klong Toei.
This is another late post – my apologies for taking so long to upload it. The Mar 20th was the first Covid-19 Rice Run and the ladies came up with a ingenious plan to create all the packages before going to distribute them at 4:30.
The shopping part went without challenge but we had to confirm with Makro before I headed there. By the end of the day, we served 84 seniors of Rang Moo and Suan Ooy while respecting all the safety recomendations of the Covid-19 era. Here are the pics…
Another late post – please forgive me for taking so long to upload it here. We had a great day on Mar 13th with the good group of 5 volunteers – this was our last “pre-Covid Milk Run”. We gave out 29 packages of milk formula in Rang Moo and another 21 in Suan Ooy. This was also Theresa’s last Milk Run before she moved to Perth. We hope to see her again soon!…
A visit with T & B Media Global had 5 of our 7 students visit a modern media company for a view into it’s workings. Cynthia and Judy were there as well for a full presentation… Here are the shots.
Sorry about this delayed post – so much was happening in March, too much to find time to upload these beautiful shots by Nicky and others who served 82 Thai seniors that day… Oh, Marylou joined us that day too!!
Here is the rest of the photos…
I am sorry about this late posting – I fell behind because life happens and then Covid-19 arrived to our shores… In any case, our Feb 28th Milk Run took place on schedule and we had a lovely group of 11 serving the communities of Rang Moo and Suan Ooy.
We gave out 30 bags of milk formula in Rang Moo and another 22 in Suan Ooy. Here are more shots…
