The Apple Tree Very Merry Christmas Market!
The Apple Tree presents our first, Very Merry Christmas Market! What a wonderful way to end our first term of 2022/23. We were wondering how we could give back to our local communities and whilst doing some research we came across The Mercy Centre. A local shelter for street children, housing five orphanages, a 300-child kindergarten and a communal safe space for those in need. Our school is just a 10-minute drive from the slums of Khlong Toei, and it would be easy for us to forget about those less privileged, with that in mind, we set out on a mission to help.
We raised over 22,000baht in just two weeks alongside heaps of donations in every form from shoes, clothes, toys, books and more. As we watched the donations roll in and the communication and support from our parents, it reflected on how lucky some of us are, not just in a material way but to have community, a place of belonging, where we can express ourselves and feel safe, loved and supported. Not everyone has these simple but imperative privileges, nevertheless today we created a bridge between everyone who showed up at The Apple Tree International Kindergarten and The Mercy Centre to forge a relationship and show compassion, kindness and love for each other.
Holiday periods can be tough for some, and while we post pictures of joy and glee, and shiny red and gold baubles, we need to remember the real impact beneath all that glitters and that is the early education we are sharing with our youngest in the purest form of creating awareness, empathy, respect and love. We are playing an important role in our future generations to come and if we come away with these values instilled then we did good.
Please let us give a big shout out to, Med Park Hospitals, Roza, Little Sprouts, S&P, Seedling Kitchen, Scrambled Art and all of our Apple Tree families that supported us.
A Very Merry Christmas to all.
