Globe Santa and friends help 30,268 families, set a record

The Milano family, owners of the Union Oyster House in Boston, has been a major donor to Globe Santa since 1956. Presenting a check for $5,000 to the Globe's William Connelly were Joseph A. Milano, Mary Milano, and Mary Ann Milano. (TASLIM SIDI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

A light rain had been falling, and the temperature had climbed above freezing last night, as Globe Santa completed the task of making sure that 54,286 children in 30,268 families in 170 Eastern Massachusetts communities were going to have a happy Christmas morning opening gifts they might not have received if not for the generous support of thousands of Santa's Friends.

At the same time, the Globe Santa fund staff was expressing amazement over the manner in which people had responded so well to the pleas for contributions to the fund, which was carrying out its 52d annual campaign during difficult economic times.

It will be Jan. 4 before all contributions are processed and acknowledged in the Santa Friends listings, but at noon yesterday just over $1,000,000 had been received at the Globe. Contributions can still be made to the fund through the end of the year, because this money will be used to purchase gifts for Christmas 2009.

The Globe Santa program is set up so that all letters requesting assistance in providing gifts must be certified by designated charitable or social agencies. This process begins early in October. It was evident by mid-November that Globe Santa and his helpers were going to have another busy year.

Once an application was approved, it was forwarded to the staff at the Globe Direct facility in Millbury, where the packages were assembled and turned over to United Parcel Service for delivery.

This year UPS workers have been hindered by the snow and ice conditions, but every effort was being made yesterday to get all the thousands of packages delivered. It was the second December in a row that heavy snow had fallen in the days just before Christmas.

The 30,000-plus families receiving gifts this year was a record. The previous high was 29,763 in 1990.

The problems facing families because of the current recession were evident in many of the letters received by Globe Santa, letters built around the words "I have lost my job" or "we can no longer make our house payments and are facing foreclosure."

Meanwhile, as Globe Santa worked away last night, he could not offer enough praise and thanks to the many friends who responded to this year's fund drive.

"It is just a wonderful feeling," he said, "to know that so many people still like to share their good fortune with those who have run into difficult financial times, often through no fault of their own."