Santa volunteers spread Christmas cheer

[한겨레] The volunteers were working with a Youth Center sponsoring their annual 'Santa of Love Campaign'

By Hwang Chun-hwa and Yi Yu-jin

Thump, thump, thump. Dressed in a red jacket, nine-year-old Min-ji (assumed name), raced up to the elevator clutching the hand of her seven-year-old brother Min-wook (assumed name). Their grandmother had told them that Santa Claus was coming that night, and they had been waiting since morning to see him. Eight volunteers, including red Santa hat-wearing Park Ju-yeong, 23, came in holding a cake with candles on it and singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." When asked, "Have you been good?" Beom-hee quickly answered, "I did the dishes. I even washed the pots. I learned it from Grandma." Ji-min and Beom-hee called out "Santa Claus!" and 20-year-old Kim Tae-hun appeared, dressed in a Santa outfit. This brother and sister pair, who live with their grandmother, received a teddy bear and winter coat from Santa Claus as Christmas presents Thursday evening.

Affiliated with Dream Youth, the Seodaemun Youth Center sponsored its fifth "Secret Santa of Love Campaign" this year. The event, which began in 2006 through the efforts of 100 volunteers who wanted to give a happy Christmas to children from low-income families, took place with the participation of 1,004 volunteers this year, visiting 1,102 children on Thursday and Friday.

The Santas here are special. The 1,004 volunteers attended "Santa school" classes on Dec. 11 and 12, where they learned carols, magic tricks, and balloon art. The aspiring Santas watched videos and practiced talking and laughing like Father Christmas. "Santa application" submissions from guardians opened two months before, with the cooperation of the different district offices, and visits were carried out in advance to determine whether the children had been naughty or nice. After determining what gifts the children wanted, the items were purchased and wrapped personally by volunteers.

"I grew up in a single-parent household and received similar help myself," said Kim Tae-sung, a 24-year-old college student who played Santa Claus. "I hope the other children have a great Christmas memory this year. I'm really nervous standing in front of the children."

The presents were purchased with 10,000 Won donations by each of the volunteers and small "happy bean" donations on the Internet portal site Naver. In October, the youth center held a fundraising drive on Naver called "Secret Santa of Love Campaign, Early Christmas." Some 5,183 people made small contributions of 100 to 200 Won, and within a month 2.64 million Won had been raised.

Most of the places the 1,004 Santas visited over the two days were houses where children are being raised by their grandparents or a single parent. Children who had timidly covered their faces at first turned into brightly smiling angels when Santa took off the wrapping on their gift. Eight-year-old Kim Myeong-min, who received the robot he had been hoping for, said, "I'm going to eat all my side dishes, not just the ones I like, and I'm going to listen to what my grandma tells me."

Nine-year-old Kim Hui-jin, who received a handbag, waved her hand at Santa Claus and said, "Come back next year."

Gang Hye-ja, publicity team leader for Dream Youth, said, "Thanks to the interest of a lot of people, a small event that started with 100 people grew into an event with 1,004 people."

"We plan to try recruiting 5,000 Santas next year."

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