The fans of Ji Chang-wook rose to the challenge of showing their support despite the pandemic. The actor’s upcoming drama with Kim Ji-won “Lovestruck in the City” is set to premiere worldwide on Dec. 22 via Netflix.
Restrictions due to COVID-19 were implemented and rice wreaths were disallowed. Rice wreaths are tokens of support to a new project sent by fans in Korea. They are often sent during press conference of a drama. Rice wreaths give opportunity for global fans to make their idols feel their love for them. A typical rice wreath has the photo of the star they support, some well-wishes written on the ribbons and a number of rice sacks donated for charity.
Fans with a heart
Undeterred by the restrictions, global fan clubs (FC) of Ji Chang-wook thought of ways to wish success to the actor and his upcoming drama, “Lovestruck in the City”. They formed the Ji Chang-wook global alliance that included Ji Chang-wook Philippines (JCWPH). They decided to donate the funds raised to the Miral Foundation.
“The Rice Wreath project for ‘Lovestruck In The City’ has been cancelled due to COVID. A small number of FC leads gathered to discuss how we can support JCW in the unprecedented situation we are under right now. So FC leaders agreed to repurpose that for Miral donation and further build up the Global Fandom alliance to gather more fans to this idea,” the global alliance said.
They chose the Miral Foundation because Ji participated in its campaign for the civil rights of differently abled children last April.
JCWPH contributed P50,000 to help the global alliance raise 15M Korean won or around P700,000. The fanclub is no stranger to charitable projects. From giving masks on the onset of the pandemic, distributing food packs and supporting cancer institutions, the fanclub has proven they are more than just fangirls and fanboys. To quote their page administrator Anne dela Cruz, they are fans “with a heart.”
The project posed challenges such as how to gather enough fan clubs to join in. An alliance would mean equal billing and their respective FCs would take a back seat to it.
“In case of the alliance projects, individual FC names are not as visible as (opposed to) an individual project. We tried to reach out to the FCs who were more open in collaborating under the name of one JCW fandom,” the alliance said. They added that this is just the start and they will be doing more projects and collaborate in the name of Ji.
In response, Miral Foundation thanked Ji Chang-wook and his fan’s “warmth that has brought hope and happiness to differently abled children. Furthermore, it has made a world where we are all together. We present this certificate in appreciation for the donation.”
Ji Chang-wook Philippines translated the certificate in Filipino.
“Lovestruck in the City” starts streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 22.
