Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    MORE than 200 people in Santa Claus outfits went on parade in the city Saturday to give out gifts to children in celebration of Christmas while raising donations for local disabled children.

    This is the second year that SantaCon, a 20-year-old Christmas costume party that has taken place in at least 442 locations around the world, has been held in Shenzhen with the efforts of local expats and college students.

    Saturday’s parade saw two teams of participants traveling from Coco Park in Futian District and Coastal City in Nanshan District to meet at Window of the World to raise money and dispense gifts to children from Shenzhen Angel Land Disabled Children Care Center before they marched to Shekou for a party.

    Tav Denkey from Togo, the initiator of the event, said its main purpose is to create a happy atmosphere before Christmas and let children have fun. He said 2,000 gifts had been given out since Friday and that the event would run through Christmas Day.

    Denkey, who was a youth ambassador of his home country to the United Nations, said he has great love and passion for children and his experience running an NGO from 2009 to 2012 prepared him to run the charitable event in Shenzhen. “The most difficult part is finding people who are willing to give their time without payment,” he said. “I hope next year we’ll have more people who put forward the idea of bringing happiness and joy to Shenzhen.”

    Half of the participants were students from Shenzhen University, where the event flourished. “We’re happy to see that the event fits in well with our goal to bring happiness to everyone, including disabled children, with all our efforts behind them,” said Han Lu, one of the seniors who organized the event.

    Each participant paid 150 yuan (US$25) for their costumes, food and drinks to cover most of the event’s costs and the remaining proceeds were to be given to disabled children.

    A mother surnamed Liu took her 10-year-old son who suffers from cerebral palsy to the event at Window of the World on Saturday, saying he liked it very much because it brought him together with so many children, a rare opportunity for him.

    Miguel Schmidt, an American businessman who dressed himself in a Santa Claus outfit to give out gifts to children, said it’s very exciting to join the Western-style event in Shenzhen.

    “I think the event is a wonderful idea. It’s a very good opportunity for expats and Chinese to do something together for the local community while having fun. I’d like to spend my time with children so that they can look at something they have seen in movies or have read about: Santa Claus,” Schmidt said.