I'm hoping once again that some of us can help out here:

Try to read this below without blubbering... sheesh, this is a hard time of the year for so many people.. I imagine a parent wanting to give their children a gift and can't do it.. it's so heartbreaking. I read the original letters written in the children's handwriting.. I still have a lump in my throat.. it is too sad.
Santa's letters get answered
Countdown to Christmas
The Postal Service and its customers help the jolly fat man fulfill his Christmas duties.


By Jay F. Marks
Staff Writer

One child asked for a Christmas tree and some presents because the family has no money after dad was hurt in a car accident and mom was diagnosed with cancer.

Kelly hoped to get an elf to call her own.
Brock just wants everybody to have the best Christmas ever.
Not even Santa Claus can grant every holiday wish, but the U.S. Postal Service continues to do its part to help.
For more than 100 years the Postal Service has worked to help Santa with letters addressed to him at the North Pole.
In Oklahoma City, customer relations coordinator Sonya Dulan has led that effort for 14 years.
Every letter addressed to Santa that is mailed in the Oklahoma City area lands on her desk.
There have been more than 400 this year, with more arriving each day.
Dulan reads each letter and logs in the ones that are seeking assistance beyond Santa's bailiwick.

Those are available for would-be helpers at Oklahoma City's processing and distribution center at 320 SW 5.

The letters are set out in the lobby from noon to 1 p.m. each weekday, but Dulan said she is willing to let people read them at any time during business hours.

Dozens of letters have been taken home by people interested in brightening the holidays for someone less fortunate, but many more remain.

"It's just tough times out there,” Dulan said.
G
iving hope
Kelli Cunningham wants to do her part to brighten the holidays for a single mother with four children.


She chose that family Wednesday from a table full of Santa letters because she and her husband, Joe, were both one of four children.
Cunningham said she hopes to fulfill the family's Christmas wishes as spelled out in a letter to Santa.
"This is pretty much a leap of faith that somebody's going to help,” she said.
Gary Goforth and Karen Cromer also picked out a letter Wednesday afternoon. It was their second time to "adopt” a family in need through the post office.
Cromer said she and Goforth are trying to do their part to counteract the focus on receiving gifts at the holidays.
Their efforts have caused some hard feelings in the family, Goforth said, because he opted to save a TMX Elmo — this season's hottest toy — for a needy child rather than giving it to a relative.
He said he hopes that willingness to help spreads to others, including the couple's 18-month-old daughter.
"If you can do it, go do it,” Goforth said. "It doesn't cost much money.”
Cromer said she treasures the Christmas card she and Goforth received from the family they helped last year.
Goforth said he enjoyed playing Santa last year by leaving gifts for a family on Christmas Eve so they would be under the tree the next morning.
"It's pretty cool,” he said.
Adults writing Santa, too
Writing letters to Santa isn't just for children anymore.

"As a matter of fact, the majority of letters I receive are from adults,” Dulan said.
Most of them are seeking more than the usual material things children ask for at Christmas, she said.
While children usually ask Santa for toys and games, Dulan said many of their parents are looking for help with food, clothing and utility bills.
The Postal Service relies on its customers to help those people in need.
They are responsible for delivering gifts to people who wrote to Santa.
Dulan said the number of customers at the processing center has dropped since 2000, when the retail operation there closed down, but there usually is a steady stream of people coming through who are willing to help out the less fortunate during the holidays. "You just do what you can,” Dulan said. "Anything you can do is greatly appreciated.”