For many thousands of impoverished people, Bangkok Community Help (BCH) has been an absolutely vital lifeline during the past two years of the Covid pandemic.
Set up in April 2020 in response to the obvious and growing need for food and medical supplies in Klong Toey and other low income districts, BCH reaches out to the needy on a daily basis thanks a small army of volunteers and sponsors. Its work has meant the difference between life and death for untold numbers of people in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
Leading the charge is American businessman Greg Lange and Friso Poldervaart from The Netherlands who jointly founded the project, which has morphed from a small group of like-minded individuals into a complex operation involving hundreds of daily tasks. BCH is now registered as a charity with the Thai government.
Despite their daily proximity to hundreds of Covid sufferers, neither Greg nor Friso has proved positive for any virus.
The scope of their work is staggering. The following statistics tell an amazing story.
Bangkok Community Help (BCH)
Operates without a break
Free Covid tests given to over 250 people a day, each receiving a ‘bag of happiness’ filled with groceries toiletries, fruits and other goods
Hands out 3,000 meals a day
Up to December 31, 2021 distributed:
* 1.3 million packets of instant noodles
* 530,000 hot meals
* 840,000 cans of fish
* 210,000 litres of cooking oil
* 630,000 face masks
* 210,000 bars of soap
* 210,000 bottles of shampoo
* 210,000 bottles of alcohol gel
* 5,000 litres of oxygen
* 15,000 ATK tests
* 10,000 strips of paracetamol