Recession puts families on edge

Globe Santa could shatter record this year

Kevin Schiner of Peabody, 7 months, met Globe Santa and Red Sox fan favorite Wally yesterday at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. (Taslim Sidi for The Boston Globe)

Globe Santa this year is facing possibly the largest demand ever for assistance in providing Christmas gifts to children in thousands of Eastern Massachusetts families who are facing serious financial problems resulting from the difficult economic times.

The year with the largest distribution to date over the 51 years of the Globe Santa program was 1990, when 57,666 children in 29,058 families were provided with gifts. With 21,383 appeals for help having already been processed at midday yesterday, it is estimated that the total could top 30,000, based on the stacks of letters not processed and thousands more expected before Friday's deadline.

Typical of the letters received this year was one from a father of four whose family has fallen on particularly hard times. With children ranging from 5 months to 10 years old, he wrote that he and his wife work hard to support their children, but are unable to give them the kind of comfort they would like.

"I am so proud of these children," he wrote. "Through it all they have been resilient and supportive."

The comfort of their home, he wrote, was quickly replaced by a struggle to survive after an accident changed their situation drastically.

"I went to work after a snowstorm, slipped, and fell, slamming my knee into a corner cement block of a deck," he wrote. The injury prevented him from returning to work for several months. His income ceased completely because he did not qualify for worker's compensation.

"We went through our savings more quickly than we expected," the father wrote. "We lost our car to repossession and were soon evicted."

After spending a few months in a hotel, the family has had to resort to living in a shelter. Both parents remain unable to find jobs that will help them out of their hardships.

"Trying to put everything back together has been a very, very humbling experience," he added.

Through it all, his children remain upbeat. "My son turned to me and said, 'Dad, you know I still want to be just like you,' " the father wrote. "My daughter tells me they're not embarrassed to live in a shelter because at least we are all still together.

"Obviously we cannot afford to give my children the kind of Christmas they deserve," he said.

This year, thanks to the generous support of Globe Santa's thousands of friends, he will be able to provide help for this family and thousands of others in the same need. With so many families facing tough times and new circumstances, Globe Santa knows it is important to give a sense of normalcy and belonging. He will be sure to find these children, even if they do not have a chimney or a place to call home.

At the same time, however, he is asking that Santa Friends continue to contribute whatever they can to the Globe Santa Fund.