Santa Shows Up & Shows Out In E.Cleveland

Jonathan Norris as "Black" Santa

It's always about the kids. Always. Helping the community can be as simple as bringing smiles to a little boy or girl's face. Showing them that, "yeah", your heroes do come to the ghetto, & you are just as important to him ... as he is to you." I once heard a proverb that goes: "we didn't inherit this earth from our ancestors, we borrowed it from our children."

 On the cold evening of December 23, in East Cleveland, Ohio ... in a packed Shaw Civic Center, we saw just that. What started as a birthday/pajama party for a young king who at that very day turned 5, a holiday legend showed up. As he walked into the party room with a grand "Ho-Ho-Hooo!", the children's faces lit up with jubilation! They ran to him, they hugged him, told him stories while he listened in genuine excitement. He passed out gifts, took pictures & played games.

It was a beautiful, & meaningful evening. & the kids knew, that they were LOVED. It was their night. Parents watched & even they took pictures with Santa. The event lasted for hours, and while the children didn't want to see him go, their faces lit up once again when he reminded them that he'd be back in just a few days to visit their homes with Christmas presents in tow. Then he left as he came ... with a grand "HO-HO-HOOO "!!!

Written by:

Jonathan Norris aka J-Good