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| Mailing their letters to Santa! |
You know an event has become a community staple when participants “graduate”.
2024 was year 5 of the
Santa Project, and some kids who have written letters in previous years
graduated to “see behind the curtain” and help out with the magic.
Two kids who have written
letters and gotten gifts in previous years volunteered as wrappers. And one family totally turned the tables – 2 of
the kids came to the Countdown Calendar to get treats as we were nearing the
closing of the Santa writing desk. I reminded
them to get their letters turned in soon because they needed to get to the North
Pole in time. They understood the urgency
and said they would write them that evening.
A couple of hours later, the parents surprised me by reaching out to ask
how the family could help. Instead of writing,
they wanted to give. They “adopted”
a family of letter writers and the kids helped shop to grant the wishes and
wrap the presents. Perfect!
Another sweet letter
writer showed up at our door the afternoon we were frantically preparing for
the community caroling event. “Hi, I am
here to help. Not to SING, but to help,”
the tween announced. I panicked… Our living room was full of gifts from
Santa, and if I allowed this child into our home, she would see it all and it
would spoil the magic. On the other hand… I was totally overwhelmed and needed to get
things ready for caroling…
“Oh great!” I told her, frantically
trying to figure out what to say as I stood in the doorway to block sight of
the room full of presents. “Ummm, uhhh,
how do you, ummm, feel about SANTA??” I asked awkwardly.
“Ummm, I like him…” she
said…
I stared at her. She stared back.
“I mean, ummm, I don’t believe in him, but I like him and all. I would never ruin the magic for anyone else who believes in him,” she clarified.
Well my friend, COME ON IN
AND STIR THIS TWO HUGE POTS OF HOT COCOA FOR ME, PLEASE!
As she stirred and I put
song sheet packets together, she explained that she wrote a letter to Santa
because her dad told her to 😊 . And because
her little brother is a believer.
We also had a kid try to
debunk the Santa “myth” very loudly this year while visiting the Countdown
Calendar. The oldest child had somehow
learned or decided that Santa was not real.
However, the youngest child is a strong believer in the magic. I didn’t know that the eldest had “found out”
but I knew he hadn’t written a letter, so I prodded him. “Hey, did you write a letter to Santa this
year?” I asked when the family came to get their Countdown Calendar treats and
pick up the youngest’s present from under the tree.
“Oh, Miss Suuuusan,”
he said with a roll of his big beautiful eyes.
“Santa isn’t REALLL. I am
not going to write him, because he is make-believe,” he said far too loud to
just be telling ME, but obviously trying to get the hint to his little sister,
too.
I panicked!! Do not spoil the magic right here on
my front porch, kid!!!
Luckily the Countdown
Calendar was in the perfect spot. His sister
on one side of the calendar, very engaged in scouring gifts under the tree to
see if there was one with her name on it.
The parents were on the other side of the calendar. And lucky for all of us, we share a common language
of American Sign Language! I quickly signed
to them, “HE IS SAYING THAT SANTA IS NOT REAL!
AND HE IS SAYING IT LOUDLY!!”.
They joined in my
panic.
They pulled the little boy
onto the other side of the calendar to give him a stern look and a “shhhhhhhhhh”
warning.
But… The magic was happening…
Because you see, under the
tree, little sister found a gift addressed to her BROTHER… Yes, Santa had delivered a gift for him, even
without a letter!
“Hey!! HEY!!!” she exclaimed very
loudly. “LOOOOK! LOOK!
COME HERE! He brought you
one! He brought you one! Even though you didn’t write him a letter, he
brought you a gift!!!!” she squealed.
The once rolling eyes now
darted to the tree. Proud little sister
held up the gift – “LOOK!!!”.
Well now, that certainly
made it hard not to believe, didn’t it?
The mom messaged me later
saying: “We started to talk to him about Santa for his sister, but then by
Christmas Eve he was so excited and was writing a letter to Santa Claus and
helping get everything set up… So, we looked at each other and said, “Maybe
tell him later/for next year”. Christmas morning he was fine, so excited and
still believing/believable. Here’s a
letter about your gift ! Thank you
again!!!”
Last minute scramble - letter to Santa on Christmas Eve
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| P.S. - I put together the Lego kit you brought me early so you could see it :) |
So, we eeked out another year with that kid.
One of the instructions
included on the letter writing desk asks that children include the name and
contact info for an adult in their life.
But every year some people miss that bit and mail letters with just
their name, wish list, and address. In
years past, we have been too busy and overwhelmed to deliver those gifts ourselves
so have relied on kind volunteers to do that.
But this year we took time to bring the presents to the addresses, and
boy am I glad we did. It was amazing!
Two siblings wrote letters
to Santa and included only an address.
The girl had not only asked for a gift for herself, but asked if Santa
Claus might also, “Bring something my mom and dad would like to surprise them”. I could tell from the tone of the very
long letter that this child was testing the waters… They were not sure if Santa was real and were
laying down some challenges to see if he could pass muster. (For example, she asked Santa sneak into her
room and take a picture of her sleeping in her bed, print it using the dad’s
printer, and leave it for her to see in the morning… That request was tricky (and funny) on so
many levels…)*
Anyway, Santa wrote reply letters to both children and also got gifts for the mom and dad (as much (if not more) to help extend the belief in the magic for the child as to give the adults something). He wrote a letter to the parents too, of course 😊 .
But the address listed was
an APARTMENT… With a locked front door… David and I drove over one evening with our
car full of gifts but could not get inside since the keypad thing didn’t work
and no one was coming or going. We tried
again the next day, hoping to see a resident arrive or leave so we could
tailgate them. It worked!
We got in the elevator
with the presents and headed to the apartment.
Knocked – no answer. Knocked again
– no answer. We thought we may have
failed on the second attempt.
But no. Our patience in knocking and waiting paid off
because after a bit, the mamma opened the door.
Turns out she was home
alone so was hesitant to answer the door.
She saw our arms loaded with gifts through the peep hole, opened the
door, looked surprised, and gestured for us to come in. We tried to explain the situation but our
Spanish is not great. She seemed to
understand and excused herself to make a phone call. “Coming!” she told us after she hung up.
We chatted a bit as we
waited. Admired their sweet Christmas
tree. She apologized for the state of
the apartment (which looked good to us) and her English (which was way better than
our Spanish). Finally, after about 10
uncomfortable minutes, the door opened.
The brother and sister
letter writers appeared and smiled when they saw the presents. “Hi!
It seems like Santa may have delivered your gifts to our house! Are one of you named GIA?” we asked.
The little girl got
excited. “Yes!! I am Gia!!” and we handed her her gifts.
“And is someone here named
Matheo??” we questioned.
The boy raised his hand
and Gia pointed, “HIM!”.
We gave him his gifts.
And that left one pretty
box in our arms.
“Well, this is odd…” we
said. “It looks like there is one here
for GIA’S PARENTS?? Did you write
to Santa??” we asked the parents.
And little Gia’s eye LIT
UP.
“NO! I did!
I asked for him to bring gifts for my parents!!!” she exclaimed delightedly.
It. Was. Magic.
All
4 family members had stunned grins on their faces. They thanked us and we said our
goodbyes. I hope Santa did well at
picking out things for the parents. As he
wrote in the letter to them:
“Dear Gia’s Mom and Dad,
Hi
– Santa here.
I
am not sure if you know this, but Gia snuck in a wish for YOU two in the
Christmas letter that she sent me. Yes,
that little cutie asked me to bring something that you like to “surprise my mom
and dad”.
Only,
it’s been so long since I have had a letter from you, I am not really sure what
it is you like these days.
Awkward…
Mom
– I went through a lot of things trying to decide what to bring. A bag of sugar? No – heavy for the sleigh, and really you
could just pick that up at the grocery store.
A Lego set? The ones with the
flowers are really pretty, but I wasn’t sure if you had time to sit down and do
Lego… A pair of earrings! But then Mrs. Claus reminded me that I don’t
know if you have pierced ears or not…
So,
I settled on this. I hope you like
it.
Dad
– same for you. I wracked my brain
thinking of the perfect gift to surprise you.
Bowling shoes were my first choice!
I love bowling. But what
size?? Then I considered a book – but
what if I chose one you had already read?
I considered a skateboard… But I
didn’t really want to be responsible if you happened to fall and break a leg
(you know how that goes).
So,
I settled on THIS. It’s not much, but it
is useful. And fun. Plus, it is something you can share with Gia,
who started this whole thing anyway by writing to me.
But
I guess what I am here to say is this:
your real gift is your daughter.
A
kid so amazing that she asked for something for YOU for Christmas. She is one in a million, that kid. You are raising her right. She is lucky to have you (and vice versa, of
course).
Enjoy
your gifts. And hey – don’t be a
stranger. I would love to hear what you
have been up to the last couple of decades.”
We delivered gifts to
another family, too. This address was close
enough to walk to, so one dark night we pulled on our winter gear, loaded up a
wagon with gifts for not 2, not 3, but SEVEN kids and headed out into the cold.
The home was tiny and we
could see a Christmas tree through a very foggy picture window. David knocked on the door and I stayed in the
driveway with the wagon full of presents.
An adult answered and David
asked for one of the children by name. He
quickly came to the door and David explained that for some reason Santa had
delivered the family’s gifts to our home and we were here to make sure they got
them.
One little girl held the
door open as one by one I handed David a gift and he called out for the
recipient. There were giggles and cheers
as each person received their present.
I had heard someone call
the girl who was holding the door open by name so held her gift for last to up
the suspense. When it was finally her
turn, oh was she excited. They thanked us
and as the door closed you could hear the celebration and see the joy through
the big dripping window. We felt like we
were in a Hallmark movie. It was
perfect.
Oh, there are so many
stories I could share. The child who
showed up about 3 days before Christmas and put his letter in a cubby of the
Countdown Calendar, letting Santa know not only was it Christmas coming up, but
his birthday, too. The kids who asked
for world peace. The neighbor who scored
a Barbie Dream House on Black Friday and donated it, allowing us to grant a
wish that was way over budget for a child who has a very hard life. The many, MANY donors all around the country
who ordered soooo many presents from wish lists. The lovely family (led by an amazing
patriarch) who once again reached out and got involved in a major way. The woman in her 40s who had a very rough childhood
and had never once gotten a gift from Santa (spoiler alert – Santa made up for
it this year). The newborn babies who
got presents and their mothers reached out to say thank you and saying how much
they cried at reading Santa’s letters.
The child who asked for green slippers and was delighted that they “make
him taller”. So. Many.
Stories.
A very happy gift recipient
The Santa Project is a
labor of love. It consumes well over a
month of my life. It is exhausting,
sometimes frustrating, but ever so rewarding.
THANK YOU to the children
who believe.
THANK YOU to the
volunteers who wrap.
THANK YOU to the neighbors
who bring over casseroles and cookies and wine to ensure we are eating (and
drinking) during the process.
THANK YOU to the amazing
friend who translates letters and contacts parents that I cannot communicate
easily with.
THANK YOU to the kind
humans who support the project by donating gifts.
Without all of you, this could not happen.
It truly takes a
village. And as I am so often reminded, I
sure ended up in a great one.
Happy holidays.
May the magic of the
season stay in our hearts year-round.
All together 221 letters
to Santa were mailed to the North Pole (via our house) in 2024. As always, there were some funny ones, some confusing
ones, and some that made me tear up. Each
of those letters received a custom reply from Santa, along with a beautifully
wrapped gift/gifts.
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| Just a fraction of the many, many gifts Santa brought |
To me, the Santa Project (and everything else Kindness Activist does) is not about the numbers. It is about the magic. But I understand that statistics are important so will share them here:
· 221 letters to Santa
· 512 packages wrapped (many kids get multiple gifts,
all follow the same budget)
· 30 amazingly kind volunteer elves wrapped presents
· 106.5 hours of wrapping took place
· Approximately $9,250 spent in total (including
wrapping supplies, paper, envelopes, and ink for letters)
· Of that, $1853.30 was funded by Kindness Activist, the
rest by amazing donors
· I have no idea how many hours of Santa letter writing,
online shopping, online registry making,
and pacing I did this year
· And countless hours of love and support from my
main elf, David
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| Santa gets lots of great artwork every year |
Here are some comments on
the 2024 project:
“Thank you for the thoughtful gifts. The girls were jumping up and down and squealing with delight.”
“THANK YOU SANTA!!!” –
shouted at the sky, arms flung open wide, by a 4 year old child after she
opened her gift on our front steps
“Thank you for bringing
such magic into our lives. We cherish the Santa letters and, most of all, I
cherish your friendship, kindness, and love that you’ve shared with us over the
years. You truly are a bright light to even the darkest situations and make the
world a better place.”
“The kids were beyond
excited to open their Santa gifts this evening! Thank you so much for bringing
so much joy to our families and so many others these past three years. We read your letters from the past couple
years which we saved in our book, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and the boys
were giggling at the memories.”
“This was a very special
morning for both children. Thank you so much!”
“Dear Santa, while I was
reading your letter I remembered again that little girl who deep down is still
inside me. And sometimes I forget some things. I cried. When I read this
letter, I cried like I did when I was a little girl. The difference is that this
time I was a happy little girl. I am sure that I will carry that with me every
day that God gives me in life. Thank you very much, I have been so happy. Like
a little girl again. Thank you very much for everything. And my
loves are very happy with the gifts. You are angels in our lives. May God
always take care of you.”
“Thank you for bringing so
much joy to our family and so many others.”
“I just wanted to express
my heartfelt thanks for everything you have done for my daughter, for me, and
for all those you have graciously assisted in bringing gifts from Santa
Claus. Thank you thank you, thank you
for all that you do! Sending you lots of
love and hugs.”
*In case you are curious, this is how Santa
responded to the request to sneak into a child’s bedroom, take a photo of said
child sleeping, print it on the father’s computer, and leave it for the child
to see the next morning:
“Now – to your request
about taking a photo of you and printing it out. As a rule, I try not to disturb children as
they sleep. After all, I do not want to
wake them. If they would wake up when
they hear me opening their bedroom door, or hear the camera take the picture,
then I would have to stay for an hour or two chatting. And honestly, Christmas Eve is just soooo
busy that I don’t have time for that you know?
I tell you what. IF I am running
early (and that is very, very, very, very, very, very rare) on Christmas Eve, I
will take a photo. I am not sure I know
how to work your dad’s printer, but if I take the picture I shall try. But please do not get upset if you do not see
a picture of you sleeping because, like I said, I can only try to do it if the
weather has been perfect and gift deliveries in Australia, New Zealand, and
several other countries I visit before the United States of America go
perfectly (which rarely happens).”
This is a piece I wrote and published earlier about a child who shared graciously their gift with me:
Every family does the holidays differently.
In the same way, every
family utilizes the Santa Project differently.
Some parents sneak over
and get the gifts for their kids then hide them away until Christmas morning,
where they magically appear under their tree.
Other kids open them in
the car after they pick them up.
And a FEW kids sit down
right on our porch and rip into them.
That's happened with 3
children this year and it is magical.
Today it was Gianni. He
isn't a child we know - doesn't come to our house often. But what a kind,
gentle kid!! He was soooo excited.
First, he saw the candy
cane on top of one of his gifts. Well, that in and of itself was a win.
Then he opened the bubble
gum making kit he had asked for. Such delight! "I got watermelon!! And
orange!!" he said happily as he announced the flavors on the package.
His letter from Santa was
on that first box he opened, so he paused in ripping off wrapping paper to
listen to his mom read it. He answered Santa's questions out loud as mom read
them.
When Santa got to the part
about the Chupa Chups Melody Pop he had asked for, oh did he get excited. You
could see the wheels in his tiny head turning - "Oh my goodness, oh my
goodness - one of these other wrapped boxes must have a Chupa Chups Melody Pop
in it!!" you could see his brain whirring.
Then the letter from Santa
said this: "I looked at your list and it made me smile. You see, I like
Chupa Chupa melody pop candy, too! Not only does it TASTE GOOD, it SOUNDS GOOD,
too! Double the fun, right? I was going to put one Chupa melody pop in with
your present, but then I got to thinking: if I like these things, and Gianni
likes these things, maybe Gianni’s friends like these things, too… So, instead
of just giving you one for you to enjoy, I told the elves, “Let’s give him some
for his friends, too!!”. So please understand, some of these are to share. Of
course, some are for YOU, it is your gift after all. But please do not eat
allllll of them Gianni. That would make your tummy hurt!"
And he squealed with
delight. THERE WAS GOING TO BE MORE THAN ONE CHUPA CHUPS!! He ripped into the
next package. Nope - not candy - this one was invisible ink...
Last package. The suspense
was mounting... Paper off...
Wait - what is that
peeking out the top of the box?? HE RECOGNIZED THE STICK OF THE POPS!!
He opened that little box to find not 1, not 2, but I think 15 Chupa Chups Melody Pops. "Gianni, do you have friends? Cuz you have a lot of these to share!!" I asked him. He assured me that he does indeed have buddies.
I laughed with him and asked how the melody pops work as he looked through to see the flavors he got.
Then he said, in his quiet little voice, "Do you want one??".
He was sharing with ME. I
had to ask him to repeat because I thought I must've misheard him over the
traffic.
"Do you want
one???".
SURE!
He gave me one and I
started unwrapping it.
"Here - I'll
help!" he said as he took it from me.
His tiny hands worked hard
to get the wrapper off. Then his tiny hands were on my lollipop. But I didn't
care. Germs be damned, Gianni was sharing his Christmas gift with ME. What an
honor.
He showed me how to do it
and I whistled and tooted a bit. Then other kids came up for gifts and
countdown calendar treats, and a pantry guest arrived that needed food for him
and his friend (both living outside in the frigid winter air). It was time for
me to get back to work.
I didn't get to thank you,
Gianni.
But THANK YOU. Your gift of a Melody Pop was much bigger than you could ever imagine. You shared your joy. You let me witness your wonder. Magic.
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