Girl, 8, takes up pen in hope of presents on Christmas

She also writes on behalf of 'baby girl,' her toddler sister

Scott Freeman, Henry Brauer, and Mark Harmeling of Colony Realty Partners presented Bill Connolly (in the Globe Santa sweater), director of The Globe Santa Foundation, with a $5,000 donation on Tuesday morning. (Taslim Sidi for The Boston Globe)

Parents, grandparents, or other caretakers write most of the letters to Globe Santa, but every Christmas season there are also a certain number of children who take on the task.

This year has been no exception.

Late in November, for example, Globe Santa received a letter from an 8-year-old girl living in a nearby city who said she was writing him to make sure he knew her family needed some help over the holidays.

"I am a good girl in school, and she is a good girl too in day care," she wrote, adding that she and her sister are waiting for Santa to come on Christmas.

The youngest is in day care because she is 3 years old, according to her older sister.

"I will turn 9 on December 26th, and sometimes I get one present that is my Christmas present and for my birthday too, but I don't mind much," she said in her letter. "I don't want my 'baby girl' to cry because we have nothing under our tree, though."

The two sisters spend time in the afternoons with their friends and a cousin that lives nearby, she added.

They like to play outside when the weather is good, but with winter here she included a few things on her wish list that would help them through the inclement months ahead.

"Me and my little sister would like a cupcake maker and sewing materials to make clothes and dresses," she wrote.

The girls will be sure to find some toys, candy, games, and books under their Christmas tree, as Globe Santa has added this family to his list. But this year's task is a daunting one, with more than 30,000 families writing to request a visit from Globe Santa.

Contributions are needed to make sure that every child in Eastern Massachusetts whose family reached out to Globe Santa wakes up Christmas morning to find that Santa Claus remembered them.

In 2007, Globe Santa raised more than $1.1 million, and delivered toys to 57,079 children in 29,379 households.

And while the recession has inflicted wide-ranging consequences and dampened the outlook for nearly every charitable campaign, many contributors to Globe Santa are still making giving a part of their Christmas tradition.

For decades in some cases, companies and individuals have held annual fund-raisers or taken up collections to help Globe Santa raise money.

The Boston Globe Foundation pays all the administrative costs associated with the fund drive, so contributions go directly toward buying gifts for children.

Please consider giving to the campaign and becoming one of Santa's Friends; your donation will brighten a child's Christmas morning.