[Sponsored Report] Toto Santa volunteers make kimchi for orphans

Volunteers with the Warm Winter with Toto Santa program take a group picture.

The volunteer group Toto Santa got in the holiday spirit earlier this month when members got together in costume to make kimchi for needy children.

Sponsors of the 70-person group included the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation’s consignment business partner Sports Toto and its official online sales network Betman. Together, participants visited Eden I Ville orphanage in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on Dec. 7. They made 1,400 heads of kimchi for 50 children and also donated 3.5 million won ($3,250) worth of winter clothes.

Despite the cold weather with temperatures dropping below zero, the volunteer group made kimchi for three hours in the front yard of the orphanage. They also decorated the trees on each floor of the orphanage so that children can spend the winter in a friendly and comfortable environment.

The volunteer group also worked on the orphanage’s study rooms and donated sports equipment such badminton sets, basketballs and footballs to encourage the children to develop healthy, active lifestyles.

These efforts were part of the Warm Winter with Toto Santa program, and similar volunteer activities have been carried out for some time.

Sports Toto has been delivering warm gifts during the holiday season to neighbors since 2007 through Warm Winter with Toto Santa not only by making kimchi but in various fields of volunteer work, all meant to help our the country’s neediest citizens.

From 2007 to 2009, when this volunteer program was first put into place, 100 employees visited 31 houses in Dobong District, northern Seoul, where they delivered briquettes. After, they also provided 15,000 briquettes to the Briquette Distribution Movement for a Warm Korean Peninsula for families they could not visit directly.

In a similar 2011 event, eight professional league employees and baseball stars from the LG Twins and Nexen Heroes participated in volunteer house repairs, receiving a great response.

By Lee Ji-hyun [concordia@joongang.co.kr]