Margaret Grainger

Picture of Margaret Grainger (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/about-us/the-team (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/about-us/the-team))

Margaret Grainger is a woman who fully devotes her time and life to help children receive a better future. Margaret started the Hand to Hand Foundation while she was working at International School Eastern Seaboard as a Kindergarten teacher and at an orphanage. Her organization started when one day while she was at the orphanage and as people would drop their children off, they would cry as they left. She asked them why they would leave their child there if love them so much and the parents would respond with "I don't have enough food, I can't provide education, and I don't have shelter, I'm too poor, and my child is better off without me." With a heavy heart she would start to pray and ask god if there were anyone who helps families stay together, and there was nowhere, so it wasn't until I read from the bible "I was hungry and you fed me, naked and you clothed me, homeless and you gave me shelter. The disciples responded with When did we see you naked and naked? And Jesus said that when you see the people in the street, I am right there in those people. The next day while she was visiting the families in the prison she gave a woman a sandwich and the woman responded with "I want to become a Christian" so Margaret asked why and she said "everyday, Jesus comes to give me food, Jesus came to give me water, Jesus came to give me clothes," and that is when she realized that she this is what she was supposed to do.

Margaret visiting the prisons with a guest. (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/what-we-do/prison (Hand to Hand Foundation))

Ms. Margaret and a few people who showed interest decided to start a kids club to give enough food and education to survive. They then started visiting the slum to feed families there, they realized that there were many children not attending school there so they started providing a scholarship program following with their newly opened preschool for the poor children who live in slums. They started this preschool from scratch, not owning any books, chairs, tables, or teachers. However, they did have a limited amount of scrap paper and used crayons. There were two single moms who had never graduated school there to help as well. Many people doubted her saying that it would never work. They called her crazy saying that she couldn't save the whole word, but anyone can, you just have to try. But she knew it in her heart that she was doing the right thing because this is what God had asked her to do. Margaret continued to pray to God and shortly God would help them, soon after they got their own building, with plenty of books, teachers, chairs, and tables, everything they had prayed for. They managed to keep families together and leave them with more love. As Ms. M says "Everyone needs a mum and a dad."

Children attending the Hand to Hand foundation (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/get-involved/spon (Hand to Hand Foundation))

Every Monday through Friday during 7:30-16:30 the Hand to Hand foundation that Margaret runs hosts Pre-school. With their 46 students enrolled they make sure that the education is free and providing needed supplies such as clothing, food, medical attention, hygiene instructions/needs, but most importantly love. In the Pre-school they teach arts and crafts, and teach them the alphabet, their times tables up to twelve, the colors of the rainbow, and numbers in both Thai and English! Although these children are given this free education, they have unstable or poor families. Luckily Margaret Grainger recognizes this which is why she set up a therapy class, so that children can be helped to be treated they need to be treated. Margaret's whole life is based on helping others and she voluntarily devotes her time to these children who need attention, even though the teachers at hand to hand only make around 9000 baht per month based on if someone directly donates for the teachers' needs.

Typical slum house of Pattaya (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/what-we-do/slum-m (Hand to Hand Foundation))

On every Friday, Margaret Grainger goes out to slums to help people that need attention/support. She visits 32 families that live in a large number of different slums. She also provides things that they need for them including food packages, bandages, clothing and sets of medicine when needed. In the food packages, they provide rice, noodles, cooking oil, fish oil two tins of fish and a bar of soap. She help parents in the slum with their low payments manage their finances to buy their children the supplies they need to attend public Thai schools such as stationary, uniforms, lunch, hair cuts and etc. Margaret makes sure that all families learn to spend their money wisely on supplies needed for everyday use rather than drugs, alcohol or junk food. Most of the children in these slums attend hand to hand at young ages.

Hand to Hand logo (http://www.handtohandpattaya.com/get-involved/spon (Hand to Hand Foundation))

We chose Margaret Grainger as our hero because she is fantastically amazing by how she devotes all of her and stays determined to make the world a better place, one step at a time. She shows that something as small as giving away sandwiches to younger children can develop into something as major and amazing as starting her own foundation. She demonstrates how people should care for one another and why. That to us, is the most important thing in life, to give to others.