Santa's merry old cause
On a recent evening, a full moon the color of a gold coin shone through the window of Globe Santa's headquarters. Phones rang. The elves clicked away at computers, entering names and checking addresses to make sure that toy deliveries reach their destinations.
"We deliver until Christmas Eve ," the elves explain to callers.
The phone calls and letters asking for help come from parents who consider this the "hard time of the year," when there isn't enough money to buy toys for their children.
"I hate to ask for help," one mother of four writes, "But the thought of treating Christmas like any other day saddens me." She had told her teenage children not to expect gifts, but she writes that she couldn't say that to her 11-year-old daughter, or tell this child that her 1-year-old brother would also not get any gifts.
"Please help me to make their Christmas a good one," writes another mother, who tells of raising her own two teenagers as well as an older son's four children. That son and his wife have been incarcerated, the woman explains.
A father of three daughters writes of "sketchy" finances. Some parents only have part-time jobs. Several say that since only one spouse is working there isn't enough money. And there are sad, familiar stories of illness and domestic violence, and of mothers and fathers who aren't involved personally or financially in their children's care.
The elves process 1,000 letters a day. And every day this season, the elves have added new street names to their database, raising concern that the need for Globe Santa is spreading.
It can seem like a cauldron of tragedy, but not to Globe Santa. The jolly old newspaper elf has been delivering toys to needy children for 50 years, a golden anniversary of delivering joy. With a twinkling eye and booming laugh, Globe Santa sends gifts to 55,000 children in 167 communities.
Globe Santa is recruiting holiday helpers, large-hearted souls willing to donate to this merry old cause. Whether it's $1 or $1,000, these gifts keep the season hopeful and humming. Donations can be made on line at globesanta.org. Checks and money orders can be sent to: Globe Santa Fund Trust, c/o Citizens Bank, P O Box 845059, Boston, MA, 02284-5059. Or donations can be dropped off in person at all performances of the Wang Theatre's Radio City Christmas Spectacular show. The Globe pays for all administrative costs so that every donated dollar can be spent on toys.
The reward, according to Globe Santa, is photographs of children who have gotten gifts, hung on the wall of his headquarters. These children may not always believe in Santa, but thanks to your donations, they can have faith in the kindness of strangers.
