{"id":13131,"date":"2026-02-25T06:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/?p=13131"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:09:37","slug":"12-days-of-kkoom-neya-and-heejaes-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/2026\/02\/25\/12-days-of-kkoom-neya-and-heejaes-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Days of KKOOM: Neya and HeeJae’s Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For our <\/span>12 Days of KKOOM<\/b>, we\u2019re sharing the voices of our volunteers and Board members. Their reflections remind us why community matters and how meaningful moments\u2014big and small\u2014can transform a child\u2019s year.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Neya, our KKOOM social media volunteer.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Making a Difference: Neya's Story<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What is your favorite holiday song?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b”I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is the most meaningful gift you\u2019ve ever received, and why?<\/b><\/p>\n

A journal, always a journal because that means the giver supports my writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What motivated you to give your time and energy to support KKOOM\u2019s programs?<\/b><\/p>\n

My grandfather and father, they have always supported children’s homes and childhood education which inspired me to do the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is your favorite memory from volunteering with KKOOM?<\/b><\/p>\n

Volunteering for KKOOM’s GEM Program in person and sharing snacks with the kids. Plus seeing my Instagram posts on the KKOOM page!<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you met the children in person, how has meeting them impacted your perspective on KKOOM\u2019s work? If you haven\u2019t, how do you think KKOOM\u2019s work makes a direct impact on the children\u2019s homes we serve?<\/b><\/p>\n

Meeting the children just made me work harder to support them. Just meeting them in-person makes their day and mine. I think if I can make people happy in any way, then that’s a good use of my time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s one thing you\u2019ve learned through your volunteer experience?<\/b><\/p>\n

Every little bit of effort you put in helps. I often used to think that I had to do something big to truly help another person, but anything you do big or small has the potential to change someone’s life completely for the better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s one of your favorite holiday traditions or memories?<\/b><\/p>\n

My mom’s hot cocoa, you really can’t get it anywhere else. It’s special. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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HeeJae and a student during KKOOM's holiday parties.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Carve Your Own Path: HeeJae's Story<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What is your favorite holiday song?<\/b><\/p>\n

“Merry & Happy” – Twice<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is the most meaningful gift you\u2019ve ever received, and why?<\/b><\/p>\n

The most meaningful gift would have to be grandpa’s golf clubs that he passed onto me before he passed away. I had been learning how to golf so that I could golf with him but his health took a turn for the worse before I had a chance to golf with him. But now I have his golf clubs as both a memory of him and motivation to become better at something that will help me remember my grandpa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s one of your favorite holiday traditions or memories?<\/b><\/p>\n

Sitting at home with my parents on Christmas just hanging out and watching TV.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u200b\u200bWhat does KKOOM\u2019s annual holiday campaign mean to you personally?<\/b><\/p>\n

The children have a day that they have been looking forward to every year and get to feel heard, loved, and taken care of more than they would on a regular day.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s one memory from a KKOOM event that stands out the most?<\/b><\/p>\n

Watching the children put on the talent show and being blown away by how talented these children are and how happy they were to show us the fruits of their labor.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How do you see KKOOM creating long-term change for children in Korea\u2019s social welfare system?<\/b><\/p>\n

Building awareness, showing children that there is a path\/way forward for them in this world and giving them the opportunity to dream and to chase after their dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What hopes do you have for KKOOM\u2019s future and the children we serve?<\/b><\/p>\n

I hope that the children we serve can carve their own path in life and break free from traditional pathways and find meaning and purpose.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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For our 12 Days of KKOOM, we\u2019re sharing the voices of our volunteers and Board members. Their reflections remind us why community matters and how meaningful moments\u2014big and small\u2014can transform a child\u2019s year. Neya, our KKOOM social media volunteer. Making a Difference: Neya’s Story What is your favorite holiday song? \u200b\u200b”I Want a Hippopotamus for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"author_post_stories":[77],"class_list":["post-13131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday-parties","author_post_stories-leah-garlock"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13131"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13135,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13131\/revisions\/13135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13131"},{"taxonomy":"author_post_stories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kkoom.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_post_stories?post=13131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}