Christmas Charity Bazaar 2009!!

On the 18th,19th and 20th of December 2009, the Leo Club of Assunta Secondary School and La Salle, Klang organized a Joint Christmas Charity Bazaar . Subang Parade Shopping Mall was chosen as the venue for this three days project. The objective of this project was to give an opportunity to the community to be involved in the spirit of giving,to the less fortunate children this Christmas and also to foster the spirit of understanding and teamwork among the Leo clubs involved. All proceeds from the bazaar was donated to Rumah K.I.D.S, Kirtarsh Handicapped & Disabled Children’s Home and Christmas gifts were donated to Philea Home.


We, Leos from Assunta and La Salle Klang were there a day earlier to hang the banner, check out the stage, arrange the tables and sort out the items that we were going to sell. The bazaar was held from 10.00am-10.00pm on the first two days. Throughout the three days of the bazaar, we had a Christmas tree placed at our booth. The Christmas tree served as a place where we hung pictures, names and ages of the orphans. Every time we get a customer who wishes to donate the gifts she/he has bought, they may choose the kid they would like to donate to from the tree. This, made it easier for our customers to understand the true objectives behind our project.

Besides the items that were donated by some of our Leos, we also sold the Christmas gifts we got from two different gift shops. I must say, that our sales were increasingly successful day after day, due to the enthusiastic bunch of promoters/LEOS, from Assunta and La Salle Klang, who volunteered to help out at the bazaar. The Leos were determined and full of spirit to attract customers to buy something from our stall although some Leos were worn out from doing more than one shift a day. Some Leos stood at the entrance of the mall, and gave out our bazaar flyers and flyers from the orphanages to passer bys. The other half, walked around the mall with big bears and stationary sets that we had on sale, and tried to approach shoppers who were interested, while the rest of the Leos stationed themselves at our stall and promoted our items to anybody who passed by. It was truly a display of immeasurable Leo Spirit!
Though in the beginning, many customers just peeked and walked past our stall. Many actually came back to make enquiries regarding our project. We, Leos explained the objectives, targets and aims of our bazaar without forgetting to mention that our project was for a good cause. Our explanations definitely paid off, as many customers decided to purchase items from our stall for either themselves, or as Christmas presents for the orphans from the 3 homes we were donating to, right after they understood the true purpose of our project. We were so lucky to have so many extremely generous customers, particularly an aunty from a white country, who spent more than RM200 by just purchasing items such as handbags and Christmas decorations for her self and Christmas presents for a total of 11 orphans. But, that wasn’t it. She actually came back to our stall and donated another 200 ringgit so we could get gifts for all the remaining orphans! With wide smiles and heart full of satisfaction, we thanked her and offered her free cupcakes.

On the 20th of December 2009, the last day of our bazaar, we had our Closing Ceremony from 5pm to 7pm on the stage in Subang Parade. The emcee for the Closing Ceemony was Leo Shaun from the Leo Club of La Salle, Klang. A few Lions from the Sponsoring Lions Club were invited. Namely, Lion Ivan Ho, Lion Balu and Lion Clayton Tan who represented the Lions Club of Petaling Jaya and Klang.

The Closing Ceremony would have been meaningless without the presence of kids from Rumah K.I.D.S, Kirtarsh Home and Philea Home. Therefore, the orphans from all three homes were invited. However, only Kirtarsh Home and Rumah K.I.D.S were able to make it with a total of 30 kids. We started our Closing Ceremony with a carolling performance by the Leos from Assunta and SMK Sultan Abdul Samad . The carolling performance definitely attracted many shoppers to stop by and join us for our Closing Ceremony. After that, Leo Bryan, the organizing chairperson of our bazaar, gave an inspiring speech and thanked all the Leos and Lions who helped make this project a success. He also did not forget to mention how grateful we Leos were for the help and assistance provided by the Subang Parade Management throughout the duration of the bazaar.
Then came the most exciting part of the ceremony, the presentation of Christmas gifts to the orphans, which was done by Lion Clayton. We had another round of carolling performance, before we moved on. The Leos sang well and it definitely helped lift up the spirit of those who were watching. Up next, we had the mock check presentation to the representatives from both, K.I.D.S and Kirtarsh home. The mock cheque was also presented by Lion Clayton, accompanied by Leo Shereen Raj and Leo Kamaldip. A total of One Thousand Ringgit was donated to both the homes. We took a group picture before we officially ended our closing ceremony. Once the closing ceremony was over, we proceeded to KFC to give all the 30 kids a dinner treat. Everyone managed to bond with each other happily and we got to know the kids better. By the end of the day, the kids left, not only with a full tummy but also with broad grins on their faces!

It was indeed a very successful project as our goals and objectives were achieved. On behalf of the Bazaar Committee, the Leo Club of Assunta would like to thank Lion Ivan, Lion Balu and Lion Clayton for attending our project and showing their support. Thank you also, to the Leo Club of Sultan Abdul Samad who were willing to be part of our Closing Ceremony, and everyone who have put in their greatest efforts to make our Christmas Charity Bazaar this year, yet another successful and productive project! To the Leo Club of La Salle Klang, a loud and macho CHEERS (!) for a great project which we are all proud of.


Reported By,
Leo Sharvani Segar & Leo Shereen Raj