The Chicago Sun Times is doing this great program where children in shelters across Chicago write letters to Santa. The letters are then distributed to ppl who request them-- those ppl can then purchase one of the gifts the child requested and mail it to the child as "Santa". I think this program is so great-- I just received my letter from my child and it broke my heart/made me feel so happy inside that I could brighten his Christmas in some small way. I wanted to buy him everything on there-- but there is a $25 limit. Anyway, if anyone is interested in playing Santa, here is the link:
We do this too every year through the post office's "Letter to Santa" program. You can pick your letters up at the main P.O. downtown...be prepared for some tears though, because some of the letters are truly heartbreaking. One year, DH and I got a letter from a child who requested a coat because he had to take turns with his siblings to wear it to school- and he was cold whenever it wasn't "his" day...