For the past 10 years, Ozzie Guillen has traveled to his native Venezuela every winter to become a modern-day version of Santa Claus. In doing so, he brings joy and smiles to a group of children and adolescents who face daily battles with a terrible disease.

With that social and humanitarian commitment, the Oswaldo Guillen Foundation, overseen by the Chicago White Sox manager, distributed Christmas gifts to more than 500 children with cancer.

"This is a way to improve the quality of life for these kids, to love them and to support them so they can move forward and overcome the terrible situation in which they find themselves," said Guillen, who was accompanied by his oldest son, Ozzie Jr., and his wife, Ibis, who is the organization's coordinator.

At the event, which took place at DiverXity, a theme park in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Guillen gave out toys and cell phones.

"It's wonderful. I never thought I'd have a cell phone. This is the sixth year that they give me gifts," said 16-year-old Alejandro Pietro, a White Sox fan who has been battling a brain tumor since 2002.

"He [Ozzie] has been very good to us. He has showed us that we should stay positive and that we have to fight this disease to the end because we are stronger."

Since he created the foundation in 1998, Guillen has not only tried to improve the quality of life of children and adolescents with cancer through gifts, but has also contributed to the improvement of human and material resources through multiple monetary donations.

"All the assistance he [Guillen] has given us has been used to remodel the oncology service at the J.M. de los Ríos Children's Hospital and in the creation of a new kind of treatment for the patients," said Rosa de Briceno, president of the Venezuelan Association of Parents of Children with Cancer, a charity that receives funding from the Oswaldo Guillen Foundation. "It's known as 'Medicine of Colors,' which unites health and culture."

The manager, who started the project because of his social consciousness and the desire to help the disabled and the needy, has received help and support from Major League players and celebrities from all over the world.

"I once spoke to [Panamanian singer] Ruben Blades, and he told me to make the foundation's events public so that people would see what we were doing," Guillen said. "I took his advice. The important thing is that this is not for me but for the children and their families who live and suffer with this disease.

"In the 10 years that we have been doing this, I have seen kids in wheelchairs who, after some time, have gotten better, have gotten up and have walked. That is the greatest satisfaction we can have with this."

The Oswaldo Guillen Foundation's project, however, is much more ambitious, as it hopes to establish and consolidate itself in the city of Chicago as well.

"I have lived in Chicago longer than in Venezuela," said Guillen, who has reached out to autistic children in Chicago for the past three years. "There are also people there that need help. That is why, as of next year, the foundation will begin to work there with the support of the White Sox."