My First Experience in Fundraising Events – by Ayia
Hi, my name is Ayia Issareeya Bhattaramark, I am 13 years old and am currently studying at Phuket International Academy in Grade 8. I’m from Bangkok but have lived in Phuket for 5 years. During these years I discovered some organisations which give opportunities to people and also animals. In the past, I donated funds and also things to these organizations, but this was my first time fundraising. I first heard about Phuket Has Been Good To Us last year through my teacher Aj. Heidi. The reason she introduced Phuket Has Been Good To Us to me is because I wanted to do a fundraising event and donate the funds to a local organization. I chose a local organisation so I can visit and see the real situation there.
The idea of doing fundraising events came to my mind when I went to a GIN conference, where international school students meet and share what they are doing or what they are planning to do at their own school. The first time I went there I saw ISB students doing a run which raised lots of funds to help cleft pallet children through Operation for Smile. This inspired me to do fundraising events for a local organisation. Phuket Has Been Good To Us to me is a great foundation because the staff there give the children opportunities to do new things.
The first thing I did as a fundraising event is a traffic run. It included grades 6 – 8 at my school. It was a relay with each station having a task for that runner in the team to do. The winner gets an award which is the dessert I made with my sister. The second thing I did was baking which raised money because people liked the dessert I baked. The most recent event was me baking brownies and also cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. I have plans to do another bake sale in the future and keep in touch with Phuket Has Been Good To Us.
Why do I like donating things to a local organisation?
The reason why I like to donate things to local people is that my parents have taught me the saying ‘give and take’. My parents like giving to people without expecting anything from that person. What I realize is when we give to people, even though they don’t give back, one day they will realize that we’re good people. For me, I think when we do good things we don’t have to tell the world that we did something good but we just have to remind ourselves to keep doing good and don’t expect anything back from people.
