After struggling for years to find a Santa her children could relate to, a Texas mom developed an app to help her and other parents find Black Santas.
In October 2018, Dallas Psychiatrist Jihan Woods launched a Kickstarter campaign for her app, “Find Black Santa.”
After raising US$5,000 in 30 days, Woods was able to build a Black Santa locator — so that she could finally find a Santa that represented her family.
“I really wanted my children to see a Santa Claus that looks like them,” Woods stated on the app’s website. “It’s important to me that they experience diversity in all aspects of their lives, Santa included.”
The app, which was officially launched in the App Store and Google Play in the winter of 2018, lists Black Santas across 35 states in the U.S., as well as Washington D.C.
The app even lists Santas in Canada, with five in Ontario and one in both Quebec and Alberta. Other countries that listed Black Santas were the Netherlands, Norway and London, England.