The origins of KKOOM began with one simple wish—to bring Christmas cheer to youth living in a children’s home in Gumi, South Korea. In 2004, Aimee Jachym, KKOOM’s Co-founder, was serving as a Fulbright English Teacher and spent her free time volunteering at a local children’s home. Aimee, along with Erika (KKOOM’s other co-founder) and their friends in the Fulbright Korea network, wanted to give the children a reason to celebrate the holidays through Christmas wish-list gifts. They raised $2,000 to purchase presents, knowing that for many of the children, these might be the only gifts they received during the holiday season.
They continued to uphold this tradition of purchasing Christmas gifts for a few years until 2007, which is when KKOOM was officially founded. For the past nineteen years, we have provided over 1,550 Christmas gifts to seven children’s homes in Seoul, Gumi, Gimcheon, Daegu, Busan, and most recently in Sejong, South Korea.
The heart of KKOOM was founded on one goal – to give love during the holiday season. This love is found in big and small ways – from house mothers volunteering their time to purchase the gifts for the parties, to college students giving $40 to sponsor one Christmas gift, and to volunteers traveling all across South Korea to be present at the holiday parties. Mother Teresa once said, “It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.”
We’re continuing the tradition of giving love to the children in South Korea this Christmas. We are impacting the lives of 206 children through meals, gifts, and enrichment activities. This past holiday weekend, we hosted two Christmas parties at two children’s homes in two days – talk about a busy season of giving Christmas cheer!
At one children’s home, we hosted a Talent Show for the second year in the row. The children practiced their performances for months and were able to sing and dance their hearts out in front of a group of judges (aka volunteers). This was also their second year making gingerbread houses; since there are a lot of younger children at this children’s home, we shipped gingerbread house kits and it seemed to spark more creativity in them!
At the second children’s home, we hosted activity booths on Christmas Eve, from a nail station, to face painting, a photobooth station, pin the nose on reindeer, games, and decorating Christmas cookies. They love the gingerbread house competition as they have been doing it for the past four years. See the amazing gingerbread house creations they made!
Thank you to KKOOM Board member Leah for organizing the parties on-the-ground and bringing all of her friends to serve as volunteers this year. We couldn’t have hosted the parties without you!
To our donors and KKOOM community, thank you for all the love you’ve given the past nineteen years to ensure the children know they are dearly loved and cared for.