Rice Run 4

Two Orphanages, Two Trucks, One Mission

February 6–14, 2026 | Hua Hin to the Thai-Myanmar Border

It started as a WhatsApp message to friends asking for a bag of rice. Four runs later, we've raised ฿244,801 (~€6,584 · ~$7,710) from 96 donors across 11 countries, and we've gone from feeding 65 kids at one orphanage to feeding 80 kids at two. This is the story of Rice Run 4 — our biggest, most complex, and most humbling run yet.

฿0

Total Raised

~€2,457 · ~$2,902

Donors

7 countries

Kids Fed

2 orphanages

Rice (kg)

~5,000 meals

€0

Cost/Meal

฿8.36 · $0.26

฿0

Reserves

~€2,497 · ~$2,949

30 Donors, 7 Countries

Led by Johan Rikhof and Haiko (€500 each), with Tommy (6 years old) donating ฿225 from his own savings. From the Netherlands to Singapore, Czech Republic to Thailand — your generosity made this possible.

See all 30 donors →

Looking Back

Rice Run 3 Made This Possible

Rice Run 3 raised ฿115,869 (~€3,090 · ~$3,650) — 145% of goal — from 31 donors across 10 countries. That surplus became the buffer that lets us sleep at night.

1,167kg

Rice Delivered

3,890

Meals

Donors

฿66,723

Surplus → Buffer

Thank You, Rice Run 3 Champions

These donors changed the trajectory of what we could do. Their generosity in Rice Run 3 created the surplus that funded our expansion to two orphanages.

🇳🇱J. Rikhof(€500)J. Rikhof · Netherlands · ~฿18,575🇺🇸Heather($500)Heather · United States · ~฿15,875🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿R. Perrin(฿10,000)R. Perrin · Scotland · ฿10,000🇺🇸Mr. John Le Page(฿10,000)Mr. John Le Page · United States · ฿10,000🇬🇧Mrs. Elisa(฿10,000)Mrs. Elisa · United Kingdom · ฿10,000🇬🇧Dhatt Family(฿10,000)Dhatt Family · United Kingdom · ฿10,000

Because Transparency Is Everything

Where Your Money Went

Before we get into the story — because some of you skip straight to this part — here's where your money went. Every receipt photographed. Every baht accounted for.

Total Raised

฿92,133

~€2,457 · ~$2,902

Total Spent

฿65,239

~€1,740 · ~$2,055

Buffer

฿26,894

~€717 · ~$847

Total spent: ฿65,239 (~€1,740 · ~$2,055) — Food: 64.0%

Hover or tap slices for details

Rice & Grains

฿31,986 (49%)

School Supplies

฿7,402 (11.3%)

Seasonings

฿5,130 (7.9%)

Equipment

฿4,330 (6.6%)

Cooking Oil

฿3,482 (5.3%)

Hygiene

฿2,962 (4.5%)

Other

฿2,892 (4.4%)

Cleaning

฿2,657 (4.1%)

Medical

฿2,090 (3.2%)

Dried/Canned

฿1,177 (1.8%)

Kitchen

฿904 (1.4%)

Transport

฿228 (0.3%)

€0

Average cost per meal

☕

1 Coffee (€5)

meals

🍕

1 Pizza (€12)

meals

📺

Netflix/mo (€13)

meals

🏃

Gym/mo (€40)

200

meals

What Changed This Time

Rice Run 3 was a turning point. We raised ฿115,869 (~€3,090 · ~$3,650) — almost 145% of our goal — thanks to extraordinary generosity: J. Rikhof (€500), Heather ($500), R. Perrin, Mr. John Le Page, Mrs. Elisa, and the Dhatt Family (฿10,000 each) leading the way. That surplus didn't get spent on nice-to-haves. It went into a buffer. Because here's the thing nobody talks about in charity work: once you start feeding kids, they count on you.

There are now 80 children — across two orphanages — who expect rice to arrive every six months. That's a responsibility, not a feel-good story. So we operate this the same way we operate businesses and personal finances: with buffers. We now have ฿93,617 (~€2,497 · ~$2,949) in reserves, enough for roughly 8.6 months of operations. That means if we ever have a run where we don't raise a single satang, those kids still eat for half a year while we figure out what's next.

The other big change? We added a second orphanage. Dr. Mo — our trusted friend and an excellent medical doctor who is himself a Karen refugee — connected us with Samson. More on him shortly.

Day 1February 6, 2026

The Makro Mission (Samson)

Makro (CP Axtra), Hua Hin

The evening before delivery day, and the red Ford Ranger is in position at Makro in Hua Hin. If you've never experienced the joy of pushing three overloaded flatbed carts through a wholesale warehouse while doing mental math on rice-to-child ratios, you're missing out.

Cart in cleaning aisle with salt, oil, soap — Starting with the essentials — salt, oil, and enough soap to keep 15 kids clean for 6 months.

Three carts. That's what it takes to feed 15 kids for half a year. And not dinky little shopping carts either — Makro flatbeds that could double as parade floats. Woks, knives, 5-liter sauce jugs, 18-liter cooking oil tins, cleaning products.

Three overflowing flatbed carts at Makro — Three carts deep — woks, oil, cleaning supplies, and enough sauce to last months.

Second angle of three carts — Same convoy, different angle. Yes, that's all going in one truck.

Checkout lane 10 at Makro — Lane 10, Makro Hua Hin. The cashier's face when she sees cart #3 approaching.

Two transactions, because even Makro's system needs a breather. Transaction 1: ฿8,969 (~€239 · ~$282) — kitchen utensils, woks, cleaning supplies. Transaction 2: ฿15,569 (~€415 · ~$490) — 25 bags of rice at ฿342 each plus sauces and oil.

Receipt Transaction 1: 8,969 baht — Transaction 1: ฿8,969 — kitchen utensils, woks, cleaning supplies.

Receipt Transaction 2: 15,569 baht — Transaction 2: ฿15,569 — 25 bags of rice plus sauces and oil.

Everything gets photographed, receipted, and loaded into the Ranger. And by “loaded” I mean Tetris-level precision packing.

Loaded Ford Ranger at night at Makro — The Ranger doesn't complain, but it probably should. Loaded to the roof.

Loaded truck second angle — Ready for tomorrow's delivery.

Social media collage Rice Run 4 Part 1 — The social media recap that kicks off the fundraising sprint. Rice Run 4 is officially live.

Day 2February 7, 2026

Meeting Samson

Samson House Orphanage, near Pala-U

First Stop: Supplies

Morning starts at Mr. DIY where we pick up fans, a first aid kit, and school supplies — ฿3,935 (~€105 · ~$124). Then Dr. Mo works his pharmacy connections for a medical kit — 19 supplies for under ฿2,000.

Paying at Mr. DIY — fans, first aid kit, and school supplies for Samson House.

Mr. DIY receipt — Mr. DIY haul: 4 fans, first aid box, school supplies — ฿3,935.

Dr. Mo loading truck at Mr. DIY — Dr. Mo loading up at Mr. DIY. "Always Low Prices" — they're not wrong.

The Road to Samson House

An hour and a half south of Hua Hin, near the Pala-U Thai Karen Church, down a jungle road you wouldn't find without a guide, sits Samson House Orphanage. The convoy snakes through rural villages, past banana trees and palm plantations, down roads that progressively forget they're supposed to be roads.

Following the loaded Ranger through jungle roads to Samson House.

Mountain road to Samson — lush green, yellow center line, and a truck full of rice leading the way.

Arrival at Samson House

And then — jungle clearing. Children in red-and-white striped traditional Karen dress. Shy smiles. Bare feet on red earth. Fifteen of them.

Karen children welcoming visitors at Samson House — First sight of Samson House — Karen children in traditional dress welcoming us.

Samson in his red Karen shirt, gesturing at the compound — "Welcome. This is home."

Samson himself is a remarkable man. A Karen refugee who spent time in the large border camps, he taught himself English and has been running this refuge for 20 years. He walks us through the compound, and you can see the layers of time. The original bamboo and thatch, weathered but holding. Next to them, a brand new two-story concrete building — donated by an American benefactor, five years in the making.

Old bamboo buildings next to new concrete dormitory — Old meets new — bamboo and thatch beside the new concrete dormitory. Twenty years of progress in one frame.

Inside the New Building

There's a photo wall upstairs with 20 years of memories. A portrait of the Thai King. Pictures of children in school uniforms. Some donors have left their entire inheritance to this place.

Photo wall with 20 years of memories — Twenty years of memories on one wall. Every child who's passed through. Every face accounted for.

Library with green bookshelves — The library — green shelves, trophies, checkered floor.

Unloading

The kids don't watch from a distance. They swarm the truck. Even the smallest ones want to carry something.

Children helping unload truck — Every pair of hands counts — even the smallest ones want to help.

Dr. Mo distributing from truck bed — Dr. Mo in the truck bed, passing supplies to eager hands. No filter needed.

Gio and Karen boy unloading rice — Gio and a young helper hauling rice bags from the Ranger.

Samson carrying box from truck — Samson himself — carrying a box from the truck with a smile that says it all.

A Karen teenager stands in the truck bed, passing rice bags down. They've done this before.

They Sang for Us

And then — unprompted, unrehearsed — the children stood up and sang.

Fifteen kids in traditional dress, standing in a concrete room with green turf floors and jungle light through narrow windows, singing for three guys who showed up with rice and school supplies. If this doesn't get you, check your pulse.

Fifteen Karen children, holding hands, singing in the community hall. This is the moment you don't forget.

The Group Photo

Group photo - everyone at Samson House — The Samson House family — Gio, Samson, Dr. Mo, and all 15 children.

Children receiving school supplies — School supplies distribution — notebooks, pens, and toothbrushes cover the table.

Medical supply box contents — Dr. Mo's medical kit — 19 supplies for under ฿2,000. Connections matter.

The Old Buildings

VIQUA water filter system — VIQUA UV Water Filter System — clean drinking water, donated by VIQUA Thailand & KatTech.

Children's bedroom in old building — The old building: tarp ceiling, metal bunk, children's drawings on a blue wardrobe.

Karen girl climbing bamboo stairs — A girl in red ascending bamboo stairs. This is the reality behind the progress.

The Trio

The real treasure from Day 2? A photo of the three of us — Gio, Samson, and Dr. Mo — standing together inside the new building with rice bags stacked behind. No poses, no filters. Just three guys who decided that 15 kids in the jungle shouldn't have to worry about their next meal.

Gio, Samson, and Dr. Mo together — The trio — Gio, Samson, and Dr. Mo. Rice bags behind. No poses, no filters.

The Quiet Moments

A quiet portrait — a Karen boy with Dr. Mo. Both smiling.

Dr. Mo giving medical checkup to Karen girl — Dr. Mo giving a medical checkup to a Karen girl under the bamboo pavilion.

Two boys in Karen dress playing with a puppy and a kitten. This is what normal looks like here.

End of day smiles — End of a long day — smiles all around after the delivery and checkups.

One week passes. The donations keep coming in. Haiko's €500 pushes us past our goal. Now it's time for round two — this time for 65 kids at Bilay House.

Day 3February 13, 2026

The Makro Mission, Part 2 (Bilay)

Makro (CP Axtra), Hua Hin

One week later, we're back at Makro. But this time, we're shopping for 65 kids instead of 15. The cart situation is... aggressive.

Rice price comparison signs — Premium Chatpatum at ฿342/bag.

Cheaper rice option — Basic Savepak at ฿249. We went premium. These kids deserve good rice.

Cart from above with cooking oil and sauce — Top-down on the first cart — 12+ sauce jugs, 6 metal tins of cooking oil. Just cart one.

Cart being pushed through Makro — Pushing the beast through the warehouse. Salt, sugar, cleaning products, and a prayer.

The Scale

If you've never seen one person push 375 kilograms of rice on a single flatbed cart, you need to look at these photos. They had to bring in a forklift. An actual Jungheinrich warehouse forklift. For our rice order.

Makro staff loading rice — Makro employees in red loading rice bags onto our flatbed.

Cart convoy heading to checkout — The convoy — full line of carts heading to checkout.

Shrink-wrapped rice pallet — THE pallet — shrink-wrapped, stacked, 25+ bags. Ready for 65 kids.

When your rice order requires a forklift. The Makro staff driving a Jungheinrich up to the top shelf — for us.

Checkout and Loading

Total Makro bill: ฿34,472 (~€919 · ~$1,086). The receipt is as long as my forearm. Three Makro staff helped us load the Ranger. They weren't just doing their job — they seemed genuinely curious about where 1,500kg of rice was going.

Checkout with rice bags — Checkout: purple bags rolling through, cashier scanning.

Receipt showing total — The big receipt: ฿33,297. Every baht documented.

Staff loading rice into Ranger — Makro staff loading the Ranger.

Three Makro staff in red loading rice into the Ranger. These guys were excellent.

Ranger nameplate with rice — The RANGER nameplate — loaded to the brim. Ford should use this as an ad.

Loading second truck — Truck #2 — the white pickup gets the overflow.

Lazada boxes on terrace — When Lazada delivers your charity run — boxes piling up on the terrace.

Two Trucks Ready

The Ranger fully loaded at golden hour. Purple bags catching the last light.

Two trucks at coffee stop — Two trucks, 1,500kg of rice, and a coffee break at a rural Thai roadside cafe.

Social media collage 1500KG — The social media recap: 1,500KG!!!

Day 4February 14, 2026

Valentine's Day at Bilay

Bilay House Orphanage, Thai-Myanmar Border

Happy Valentine's Day. We're delivering rice to orphans. I'll take “dates that are more meaningful than a restaurant reservation” for 500, thanks.

Two Trucks, One Convoy

This time, we need two trucks. The red Ranger is packed to absurd levels. The second truck carries the cooking oil, sauces, and the first-aid kit riding shotgun.

Ranger loaded for departure — Pre-dawn loading: rice in the bed, Lazada boxes crammed in the back seat.

Loading white truck — Loading truck #2 under Dr. Mo's carport.

White truck bed full — Green bags, purple bags, cooking supplies. Two trucks, one mission.

Supplies in white truck — First-aid kit riding shotgun.

The Mountain Rest Stop

Two trucks at mountain rest stop — Two trucks loaded with rice, side by side at a mountain rest stop. This is Rice Run 4.

At a rest stop near the mountains, both trucks sit side by side. Purple rice bags overflowing from both beds, cliff face in the background. This is the image that captures the scale — two trucks where there used to be one.

The Road to the Border

The drive to Bilay is long. From Hua Hin, you head toward the Myanmar border, through mountains thick with green. The road gets narrower, the towns get smaller, and eventually GPS becomes more of a suggestion than a guide.

Straight road toward mountains — The road to Bilay — dead straight, vanishing into the mountains. Just rice and resolve.

Following the Ranger toward the border — mountains through the haze, rice bags in the bed ahead.

The final approach — from highway to jungle track. This clip tells the whole story of how remote this place is.

The final stretch — dust, dirt roads, and mountains. This is how you get to Bilay House.

Arrival at Bilay

Both trucks pull in. Children emerging from everywhere. Bilay House is our OG. We've been here three times before. But the kids still run out to meet the truck. They know the drill by now — these aren't their first rice bags.

The entrance — Ranger flying the Thai flag down the dirt road to Bilay House. We're here.

The convoy arrives — Ranger and Isuzu side by side at Bilay House. Kids streaming out.

Children forming human chain to unload — The human chain at Bilay House — even the smallest kids are carrying rice bags.

Caretaker leading chain — The caretaker in Karen pink leading the chain — a toddler in light blue holds her hand.

Wide unloading scene — Boys in the truck bed, chain of helpers. A well-rehearsed dance.

The Rice Mountain

After all the bags are unloaded and stacked, there's a literal mountain of rice under the shelter. Floor to ceiling. This is what “don't worry about food anymore” looks like.

Massive rice pile at Bilay — The rice mountain at Bilay House. Enough to feed 65 kids for months.

Little girl next to rice pile — She's maybe 4 years old. The rice pile is taller than her. This is why we do it.

Community gathering for distribution — 65 kids waiting their turn for supply distribution.

Wide delivery scene — Rice mountain on the right, children everywhere. Organized chaos at its finest.

The rice pile growing — smiling girl in purple, bags stacking up against the yellow building.

Breaking Bread

After the chaos of unloading, there's lunch. Bilay, Gio, and Dr. Mo at a wooden table. Home-cooked Thai food. Three men from completely different worlds, sharing a meal in a place most people will never see on a map.

Bilay, Gio, and Dr. Mo at lunch — Breaking bread at Bilay's table — Thai food, ornate ceiling, and a conversation about what comes next.

Dr. Mo checking medical documents — Dr. Mo checks medical documents of a potential new Be Well Child Care patient.

Bilay kitchen pots — Bilay's kitchen — industrial pots for cooking for 65.

The Group Photo

Bilay House group photo — The Bilay House family — ALL 40+ children and caretakers. Valentine's Day 2026.

Everyone waving at the camera, rice pile behind. Forty-plus kids, all fed. Mission complete.

Children playing at compound — Last glimpse: children playing. Normal life resumes. Rice secured.

Thank You

The Donor Wall

Rice Run 4 raised ฿92,133 (~€2,457 · ~$2,902) from 30 donors across 7 countries. Here's every single person who made it possible.

Loading map...

Donor	Flag	Amount	Date	Message
Johan Rikhof	🇳🇱	€500	Feb 6	Keep up the good work
Haiko	🇳🇱	€500	Feb 8	—
Giovanni	🇳🇱	€200	Feb 5	—
R.	🇳🇱	€200	Feb 6	—
Jel	🇺🇸	$177	Feb 6	—
L.	🇬🇧	฿5,000	Feb 6	—
Vít Fojtík	🇨🇿	€100	Feb 6	—
The Coffey Family	🇺🇸	$51	Feb 6	Feed those kiddos!
Blanka	🇨🇿	€50	Feb 5	—
W en B	🇳🇱	€50	Feb 5	Succes tijger tot in april
Petra Kovář	🇨🇿	€50	Feb 6	—
Sander	🇳🇱	€50	Feb 6	—
Tamara Potter	🇳🇱	€35	Feb 6	Keep up the good work!
Kevin	🇳🇱	€30	Feb 13	—
Kirsten	🇳🇱	€25	Feb 5	Let the rice run, and run again
Jan van Mook	🇳🇱	€25	Feb 6	—
Jonathan Martin	🇸🇬	฿2,500	Feb 6	Great cause Dr Mo
Ellis de Ruiter	🇹🇭	฿1,225	Feb 6	Tommy (6y old) donated ฿225 from his savings
Marlies Woodtli	🇹🇭	฿1,000	Feb 6	Good job
Rodger & Sasiya Auld	🇹🇭	฿1,000	Feb 6	Thank you for giving us the opportunity
Martin en Evelien	🇸🇬	฿1,000	Feb 7	Super proud of this great initiative
Kevin	🇸🇪	฿1,000	Feb 8	—
อรอุมา เพียรผล	🇹🇭	฿1,000	Feb 13	—
Jesús	🇨🇿	€20	Feb 6	—
Ya Sjiemdee	🇹🇭	฿500	Feb 6	—
Estrella	🇳🇱	€10	Feb 6	—
Bas de Wit	🇳🇱	€10	Feb 7	—
Mitchell	🇳🇱	€10	Feb 7	—
Salma	🇳🇱	€10	Feb 11	—
Christiaan	🇳🇱	€10	Feb 11	—

Special mention to Tommy (6 years old) who donated ฿225 from his own savings. That hits different. And to Johan Rikhof and Haiko — your €500 each changed the scale of what we could deliver.

Four Runs In

What We Learned

Every run teaches us something. Here's what four runs, 97 donors, and 3,796kg of rice have taught us.

Food First, Everything Else Second

Rice Run 3 had equipment at 24% of spending. Rice Run 4 brought food spending back to 49%. Not enough. For Rice Run 5, we're targeting 70%+ on the three core items: rice, oil, and protein (mung beans). The rest covers medical supplies (through Dr. Mo's supplier), hygiene, and — only if we exceed our target — quality of life items.

Banks Still Suck

Business and personal banks have been blocked multiple times for cross-border charity payments. Doesn't matter how well you document it. We're in conversations with Open Collective and Omise (Thai Stripe competitor, the payment platform used by Soi Dog Foundation). The Thai charity foundation status is a real hassle as a foreigner.

Bulk Pricing Is Everything

At ฿342 per 15kg bag of rice, we're paying ฿22.80 per kilo. But at 12+ bags it drops to ฿325 (฿21.67/kg). At our volumes, that saves us ฿400+ per run. Not life-changing, but when your average cost per meal is ฿7.50 (€0.20), every baht matters.

Mung Beans Are the Answer

26g of protein per 100g. Stores dry. Easier to work with than soybeans. The challenge is finding a reliable bulk supplier. Working on it for Rice Run 5.

Runs 1 through 4

The Big Picture

Twenty-two cents. That's what it costs to feed a child a meal of rice. Your fancy coffee this morning was worth about 23 of those meals.

Fundraising Growth

Meals & Rice Delivered

Fundraising

฿14k→฿92k

+556%

Donors

15→30

+100%

Countries

4→7

+75%

Kids Supported

65→80

+23%

Orphanages

1→2

+100%

Rice Delivered

312kg→1,500kg

+381%

What's Next

Rice Run 5

Shopping: August 1, 2026|Delivery: August 14, 2026

Until Shopping Day

149Days

3Hrs

11Min

31Sec

Change your phone number now or we'll find you.

See Rice Run 4 Results

A Note on Photography

I have a rule. No lining kids up to look sad for the camera. No putting myself in every picture. That's not what this is about.

But there's a balance. People who can't be there — who can't feel the heat, smell the rice cooking, hear the kids laughing — they need to see something to understand why buying a few bags of rice every six months doesn't really “cost” anything. So I take photos of the receipts, the trucks, the supplies, the roads. And yes, some photos of the kids. Because they're the point of all of this.

I'm in service of the kids, the amazing orphanage directors, all my friends who help me do this, and most of all — you, the donor.

Full Gallery

Every photo from Rice Run 4, organized by day.

Expired fire extinguisher — Fire extinguisher expired 2023. Adding to the Rice Run 5 list.

Bilay sitting with supplies — Bilay himself — the man the orphanage is named after. Content expression.

Every receipt photographed. Every baht tracked. Every photo tells a story.

charityriceruns.org — Rice Run 5 launches August 1, 2026

Written by Giovanni van Dam — February 2026. With help from Dr. Mo (Mowae), Samson, Bilay, and 30 people across 7 countries who decided that buying some rice was worth it.