Orphanage Charity Sale

Thursday (17/02/2011)

a) Stall preparation.
• I set up the stalls as the kids were still having lessons at 9.30 a.m. Then, some of them helped me to place the items accordingly. I placed the labels which comprised the name of items and price.
• By 10 a.m., the kids were already excited. I called their names accordingly so that they remember who their partners were. They sat together and I gave each pair a container to keep the sale money.
• Next, they marched out and sat at their relevant places. I reminded them to take good care of the money and also to advertise their products as to attract their potential customers. Example: Helicopter blades can fly….for only RM1. Get a nice Recycled bag for your mother…….for only RM1.

b) The Sales.
• 5-year old kids came down to buy our items. The sellers are kids from our class and Soya Bean class. At first, the kids didn’t know how to promote but as they listened to how teachers promote, they started copying us…
• They kept the money in the container. Sales for toys, helicopter blades, , toy cars and biscuits were the best. Zhe Qing started sobbing when nobody came to buy her cups and glasses. I explained to her that she has to promote and she was quite shy at first. Jun Yu came to me asking why nobody buys from him even though he promoted many times. I told him to be persistent and business is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
• Yee Xuan and Xing Jing were very patient and finally some parents bought water bottles from them. Zheng Yuan was also very patient and eventually promoted his items as parents’ gifts. Example: key chains, beautiful envelopes, pencils etc. Jun Yu’s biscuit business got better when some parents started buying his biscuits. He could remember so well that he told me the amount he received. Kwong Yong and Shawn were quite a team as they kept promoting their cookies. Kwong Yong was also excited to help his friends promoting their items. Xing Tong’s business was like hot cakes. Probably because we displayed balloons at the counter. Zhi feng was also busy selling toy cars. Soon Yu and Jia Xun were busy selling other toys such as Naruto, lipsticks, dolls, telephones and etc.

c) It’s the Orphans’ Money
• As this was the first time kids deal with real money, they have the perception that the money collected belonged to them. This thought was especially strong among the 5-year old kids. Luckily I saw the actions and explained again that those collection is for the orphans. So, kids can’t take those money to buy the charitable stuffs.
• The same situation occurred for Soya Bean class too. However, after a while; they started telling one another that the money was for the orphans.

d) Counting the money.
• In the classroom, each kid got the chance to count the money. We calculated together. The collection for the morning was about RM129. However, gthis does not include parents’ donation. Xiang Wei’s mother and grandmother donated RM50 each. Alisa’s aunty donated RM10. Teacher Hui Ping donated RM50. Our charity sale has yet finished because the kids will continue to sell at 5.30pm to parents.

e) Songs: The Muffin Man, You are Special.
• We substituted the lyrics related to our Charity Sale.
Example: Do you know the cookie children, the cookie children, the cookie children?
Do you know the cookie children who help the orphanage?
(toy children, bag children, Milo children, bottle children, t-shirt children, container
children, keychain children)
• Overall, the kids performed well during their charity sale including kids like Kwong Yong who kept promoting his cookies. :)
• Thus, I thought they are very special, everyone is special in their own ways. Thus, we sang this song with actions!
“You are Special, You’re the only one,
You’re the only one like you!
There isn’t another in the world, who can do the things you do!
Oh…you are special, special,
Everyone is special,
Everyone in his or her own way. (x2)

f) Discussion and drawing.
• Eeach kid came to report what they bought. Each kid used their Rm2 rather wisely. As most charitable items are sold for RM1; thus most kids bought 2 items each. They shared their experiences happily.
• Then, they started drawing their favourite moments onto an A4 paper. Some kids actually drew detailed pictures such as Zhe Qing and Jun Yu…….hmmm I bet they had a wonderful time!

g) Evening Charity Sale.
• As we still had items to sell off, the kids were so happy to work together with Soya Bean class and sell the items to parents.
• At the end of the day, I handed the money to Teacher Huang. The actual amount would only be known when she calculates and adds to Soya Bean class collection. I shall announce to parents and kids by then. Thank You so much to all parents for your dedicated and loving heart and soul.