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NORTH POLE- Santa Claus has announced a cutting-edge, green initiative aimed at helping families still struggling during trying economic times. This year Santa says he will be traveling less to local malls, saving incalculable amounts of resources, and, instead intends to spend more time in the North Pole interacting with families live online via an interactive website called http://www.VisitSantaOnline.com. From Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, the site allows families to see and hear Santa, Mrs. Claus, and even the elves live from Santa’s Village via webcam. “If webcams are good enough for Oprah, they’re good enough for Santa to use to talk to families! Ho Ho Ho!” Santa exclaimed. “Plus, this experience is not only cooler, more modern, and more comfortable than the mall, but it’s also one-thousandth the hassle, one-hundredth the time commitment, and one-tenth the cost!” Santa said.

In order to use the site, a family merely needs a PC or MAC and cable or DSL internet. If a family wants to talk directly with Santa, they’ll need a webcam as well. Families can try the site for free for 2 minutes, and then are asked to make a donation of as little as $4.99 by major credit card or Paypal in order to log-in and chat with Santa whenever they want, as well as to use their webcam and visit with him personally. A portion of the proceeds goes to charity, as well as to several dozen of Santa’s “helpers” working from their homes around the world.

The cutting-edge concept is the brainchild of a Chicago-area mother of three named Jill Noonan. She says the idea came to them while standing in line with their 5-year-old daughter for 90 minutes to see Santa at the mall. “It was a chaotic and costly experience. Parents were anguished and children were going nuts! My 2-year-old daughter refused to see Santa at all, and the 5-year-old began to have second thoughts half-way through the line. I thought: There has to be a more comfortable, relaxed, personal, safe, and even more affordable way for children and families to enjoy visiting with Santa. I was shocked when I wasn’t able to find such a service, and decided to make it a reality for children of every age to enjoy at Christmas.”

Noonan hopes this site will be embraced by some very specific types of families in addition to those with what she terms Mall-Santa fatigue: Families with children who are hospitalized, children with special needs, and older children who are doubting Santa’s existence. “For the second year in a row we’re using proceeds from the site to provide for free chats for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The wonderful volunteers there said children had a blast chatting with Santa from their bedside last fall! We are so happy to be able to do that for those special youngsters!”

“We attended the Autism Society of America convention [in St. Charles, IL] this past summer because we heard from many parents that this site is a Godsend for children with anxiety, communicative, and perception issues. We heard from many families with children with special needs last year that this site is so much better than seeing Santa in some crowded room or mall. We also loved getting letters from families with skeptical 8 year-olds who believed in Santa again after visiting him live online through our site. Those experiences made the expense and hard work of creating this site more than worth it!”

“VisitSantaOnline.com is all about restoring the magic of Santa and Christmas in the lives of thousands of children of every size and age,” says Noonan. “Our goal is to bring Santa and The Season directly to children from the comfort of their own home, eliminate headaches for parents, and do it all affordably during these tough economic times. Nothing says Christmas more than that!”

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Print article approved for re-publication. Embargoed until 11/16/09

Santa Skips Mall This Fall; Will Visit Families Online

NORTH POLE-“Nicholas” stretches his trademark plush red coat across his massive shoulders in one fluid motion, fastens his wide patent leather belt expertly along his expansive waistline, primps his flowing white hair around his velveteen hat with care, and prepares to spend time with children as he has for generations. His visage is unmistakable: He is Santa Claus. Nick’s face lights up as he lets loose a hearty “Ho Ho Ho” at the sight of the two or three dozen families waiting patiently for him. Things are not what you might think, however: Santa’s not walking onto some set amid a chaotic mall somewhere in America, and the children aren’t winding their way through a maze of ropes. Instead, Santa is perched in front of a computer and webcam in his home; Families, meanwhile, are in their homes across the globe, eagerly anticipating a glimpse of the Jolly ‘Ol Elf and a chance to have a personal web chat with him on a cutting-edge website called VisitSantaOnline.com.

From Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, VisitSantaOnline.com allows families to see, hear, and type to Santa who appears live via webcam from his home in the North Pole. The only requirements for families are a computer and high speed cable or DSL internet. If a family wants to share their wish list with Santa personally, they can opt for a “VIP Family chat” where they’ll have his undivided attention. In that chatroom, families with webcams can opt to let Santa see and hear the family so they can speak directly. No webcam? No worries, say the site’s creators. Santa will be seen and heard by all families at all times, and families can sample the experience for free for a couple of minutes.

The site was started by a mother of three small children fed up with the long line at the mall to see Santa. Jill Noonan says the 90 minute wait coupled with her 2-year-old’s refusal to see Santa, and her 5-year-old’s anxiety throughout the lengthy wait made her think that the world might be ready for a modern alternative to the mall. “I approached Santa to see what he thought, and he was onboard immediately,” Noonan quips. “He loved the idea of spending more ‘quality time’ with children while also staying close to home and helping the elves in the toy workshop.”

Though the idea began as a way to help families with what Noonan calls “Mall-Santa fatigue,” it quickly evolved as she and her husband pondered the joy this experience could bring to children in hospitals, children with special needs such as Autism, and those with anxiety issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Noonans gave thousands of dollars in free webchats to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago in 2008 and hope to send even more this year. “The wonderful folks at ‘Children’s’ were quite kind to us last year, and we’re thrilled that the children there enjoy our site! We were told volunteers took laptops from room to room and the kids had a blast! That’s the vision of VisitSantaOnline.com: To spread the magic of the season to all children, and especially those who are sick or in stressful situations. Frankly, Santa wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Noonan also hopes this service is a help to families which are feeling the effects of the recent economic downturn. “This is far more affordable than seeing Santa at the mall [as much as 10 minutes of chat time is less than $5.00], and our informal research indicates this experience is approximately 10-15 times cooler than trudging off to some crowded mall! During these tough times, why not spend more time with Santa in a comfortable environment—your own home—and save money? Santa assures me that I have definitely made his ‘nice’ list by helping him put this together!”

Click on www.VisitSantaOnline.com for more info.

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