Posted on 12/08/2013 5:18:06 AM PST by yldstrk
I was overwhelmed. Many of the letters — even the ones from kids — asked for groceries and shoes, clothing and shampoo. One child wrote: "Please bring my mommy some food. She's been good this year."
Elf Cleo sat beside me at the table checking in a new batch of letters. She told me 90% of the Santa requests sent to the post office never get answered. Many are written at homeless shelters and city food banks and after-school programs. (I found one letter in which a young teenager asked for gifts for the shelter workers.) Cleo said that every once in a while a family's gift comes back unopened, marked address unknown. She wonders: Have they moved into a shelter? A car? Onto the street?
I read a lot of letters, and I felt worse and worse. I didn't know how to choose. The single dad who needed diapers? The 17-year-old asking for a backpack for her little sister? I believe in holiday magic, but there just didn't seem to be enough of it to go around.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1208-wagman-christmas-santa-letters-20131208,0,5227666.story#ixzz2mtBPetRU
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
According to Chris Matthews, just President Obama giving himself up to become President was the greatest gift of all time.
If I had just a little more means I would connect with some local churches who share a food bank and try to get corporations to send us their old laptops (instead of having them shredded or something) so we can put Linux on them and give them to kids like you mention.
Maybe next year...
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