“圣诞老人在行动” Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

Dec 11, 2016
4 min read

由李文斯顿市政府和华人慈善团体 ——“爱心进行时L.O.V.E.”共同举办的第二年度“圣诞老人在行动”慈善联欢会于2016年 12月11日在市政府活动中心成功举行。组织方特别邀请了“东方文化艺术交流协会E.C.E.A.”作为唯一艺术表演团体加入，共同打造了一个欢乐祥和的圣诞慈善大联欢。

此次活动中，市政府社区活动负责人Susan Ridley女士以及新当选的市教育委员会委员沈小乐先生特别出席，Susan Ridley女士还作为嘉宾致辞，专程表达了对L.O.V.E.和E.C.E.A.的由衷感谢。本次联欢不仅为本市有特殊需求的孩子（Shining Stars）家庭带去了充满爱与节日气氛的圣诞礼物，作为本年度活动亮点的E.C.E.A.更是将融合了华夏气息的中华元素与西方圣诞的传统经典的艺术表演纷呈与众：清新飘逸的白纱礼裙小公主们与工整帅气的领结小绅士们一起合奏小提琴；三四岁的小娃娃们穿着绚丽的中国红童装旗袍一起奶声奶气的朗诵中国古诗；动感十足的小猫女郎在神气十足地独舞；典雅大气的歌手带来了千回百转的柔美独唱；身着洋溢着五四青春气息服饰的男女童声大合唱……一曲台上台下共同演绎的Jingle Bell更是将联欢推向了高潮！

在整场联欢中，东方艺术与西方经典共一色，精彩节目带来的掌声与全场互动游戏引来的欢笑齐飞扬。本次活动L.O.V.E.成员以及E.C.E.A.参加表演的小朋友们共为这些有特殊需求的孩子们义捐了价值近1500元的礼物，除了分发给到场的Shining Stars，剩余礼物当场全部委托市政府转交全国性的慈善组织“Toys for Tots”在新泽西的分支机构，为本州孤儿院的孩子们传递节日的问候，诠释着大爱无疆的真谛。

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

Just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way.

Stopped off at the North Pole to spend a holiday.

I called on dear old Santa Claus to see what I could see.

He took me to his workshop, and related this happy journey to me:

“I came to the Town of Livingston, for the well-deserving children of Shining Stars!”

It’s that time of year again! Members of L.O.V.E. (Lotus Outreach Volunteer Experience) spent the day on December 11 with Shining Stars, which is an after-school program for children with special needs run by the township of Livingston, bringing gifts and spreading holiday cheer. L.O.V.E. is a social organization devoted to raising awareness of the need to respect and care for people, animals and our environment, and teaching these values to our young children through diversified activities.

“We named this program ‘Santa in Action,’” explained Natalie Li, L.O.V.E. founder, describing this second annual Christmas season event. “Livingston is a diverse community that includes people from different countries and cultures. We came from China. In our tradition we don’t celebrate Christmas, but we do have in common the qualities of caring, loving and sharing, which are at the spiritual root of this holiday season in America whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or the Winter Solstice.”

After last year’s inaugural program, Natalie arranged with Susan Ridley, the program supervisor of Livingston Youth and Community Service (LYCS) Leaders and Shining Stars, to co-sponsor this event as a regular feature on the L.O.V.E. and LYCS leaders’ calendars, and this year’s event was even bigger and better. Natalie enlisted the aid of her friend, Rebecca Shen, chairwoman of Eastern Cultural Exchange Association (E.C.E.A.), located in Livingston, who brought along her troupe of talented little performers.

The stage show combined Chinese culture with Western Christmas traditions, and featured a violin ensemble playing “Let It Snow” and “Cripple Creek,” a children’s chorus of Chinese songs (“Farewell,” “Singing and Smiling”), solo singing of “Where Are You, Christmas?”, a solo dance to “Happy Kitty”, Chinese poetry, and the “Wheels on the Bus” song performed by L.O.V.E.’s toddler mini chorus.

Bonnie Spring, Adaptive Recreation Coordinator, added to the party fun with interactive games, including dancing and playing limbo with Santa, to the delight of everyone in attendance.

The Shining Stars began dancing to the violin accompaniment, and before long, the entire audience of about 170 joined with the performers in singing "Jingle Bells." A wonderful time was had by all. As one Shining Stars parent told master of ceremonies Laurie Li, "This was a wonderful production."

The E.C.E.A. child performers also added to the $1500 worth of gifts that L.O.V.E. presented to the Shining Stars. Santa made sure that every Shining Star received a gift appropriate for his or her age and interests. Any toys that were not distributed were donated to the Mental Health Association of Essex County for fosters and homeless children who are most in need in New Jersey through the annual LYCS Leaders Toys 4 Tots collection.

When the music stopped, the party was over, and everyone walked out of the Senior/Community Center, they were greeted with snowflakes – the first snowfall of the season. Was it because of the opening song, “Let It Snow”? Or was it a special gift from Santa? Who knows?

L.O.V.E. is open to all nationalities. Those interested in learning more about L.O.V.E. and E.C.E.A. should contact love2015.info@gmail.com.