For the many adults with serious financial problems this holiday season, one of the toughest tasks is getting up the courage to swallow their pride and reach out and ask for help.
Despite realizing that without assistance their family will have to find comfort in togetherness rather than toys this Christmas, there are parents who struggle long within themselves before they can shelve their independent streak and turn to Globe Santa for his assistance.
"This is the third time I have tried to write this letter," a mother from north of Boston wrote to Globe Santa.
"It's very humbling to me to admit I can't provide everything for my kids right now."
She had to make some tough choices in the last year, she said, foremost being the decision to leave her children's father after more than a decade together. His struggle with substance abuse finally became too much for her to bear, after months of wondering whether there would be any money for groceries to prepare dinner, or for fuel to provide heat and hot water for the house.
"The utilities were getting shut off all the time and the rent was never paid," she wrote in her letter. "And he was at the point where he was buying drugs instead of food."
But now she and her two girls, ages 2 and 10, are fighting to make ends meet on their own. She has to pay for a baby sitter so she can go to work and take college courses at night, but this single mother said she is confident her efforts will pay off.
"I only have one semester left and I'll be able to get a better job in the medical field," she wrote. "I know by this time next year I'll be financially independent, but until then I'm asking for a little help."
For this year, she writes, she needs Globe Santa to deliver some gifts Christmas morning for her girls, who she said have endured the changes with courage and even with "the smile still on their faces," but not without some sorrow, too.
Her 10-year-old is the "best big sister," who has a flair for arts and crafts and spends lots of time with her younger sibling, painting and coloring. She also loves music and does well in school, her mother wrote.
She said that if acting silly and laughing out loud are ever in short supply, her 2-year-old provides enough for the whole family. The little one loves Elmo and Barney, she said, is mischievous beyond her years, and already has a smile that lights up the room.
"It means a lot to me that they have something under the tree for Christmas so any way you could help would be deeply appreciated," she wrote.
This family of three will be among the more than 24,000 households that will receive presents from Globe Santa this year. Children throughout Eastern Massachusetts will be able to enjoy the excitement of finding toys under their Christmas tree, thanks to the generosity of thousands of individuals and groups who have donated to the fund drive.
But the campaign couldn't succeed without Santa's Friends, and their contributions are needed to make sure all the families who have asked for help find gifts on Christmas.
Last year, more than $1 million was raised, and toys were delivered to 54,077 children in 27,833 families.
