South Shore grandmother struggles not to disappoint boy, 9

This year’s program has had an increase in requests for assistance as parents and guardians strain to provide for their children while staying afloat amid the deepest recession in decades.

The adults write to Globe Santa knowing that without help, their children face a painfully disappointing Christmas.

A grandmother from the South Shore wrote on behalf of her 9 year-old grandson, whom she is in the process of adopting after caring for him the last four years.

“He is a very well-behaved boy but has a hard time in school because of some minor learning disabilities,’’ she said in her letter. “I really try to make sure he has fun birthdays and holidays but haven’t been able to lately.’’

She goes on to say that they scrape by on her Social Security payments and struggle to save money for anything extra. Any misfortune takes a heavy toll.

“Our luck has not been too good as we were robbed in August and again Oct. 16,’’ the boy’s grandmother wrote. “My whole safe was just taken out of our home, and my grandson’s Christmas [money] was in that safe that he had been saving himself since going from second grade to third grade.’’

Because both his parents are absent from his life, the young boy, his grandmother said, has become more mature than other children his age, and it concerns her he is “so serious all the time, which a kid his age shouldn’t have to be.’’

But, she continues, he retains the rambunctious spirit and innocence of any 9-year-old, which is on full display most every night.

“He needs to stay on a schedule so our meal time is always after the afternoon homework, which can be a real struggle’’ she wrote. “But once we sit down to eat, and then watch TV together, he talks and laughs like a boy without a care in the world.’’

Her grandson is among some 60,000 children receiving presents from Globe Santa this year.

The generosity of thousands of individuals or many groups that contribute to the Globe Santa fund drive ensures that every eligible family in 180 Eastern Massachusetts cities and towns will receive gifts. The names of the fund contributors are acknowledged in the lists of Santa Friends that are printed daily in the Globe.

With this season’s extraordinarily heavy volume of requests, Globe Santa needs all the support he can muster. So please consider giving to the campaign, knowing you will make a needy child happy.