Letters to Santa Claus Produce Gifts for Food Pantry

People who send their holiday gift lists to Santa Claus can now give to charity at the same time. A Massachusetts non-profit organization called Santa Cause promises to send a personalized response from the North Pole to anybody who sends $3 and a letter or e-mail to Santa. All the money raised from the letters goes to the Wilmington Food Pantry, just north of Boston.

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The charity was started by Jim Murray, owner of American Insurance Agency, in Wilmington, Mass. He spreads the word through the company’s Web site (http://www.tiac.net/users/amerins/santa.htm) and places promotional advertisements for the charity on Internet search services. He also advertises in newspapers in the Boston area.

Requests for a custom-tailored letter from Santa come by e-mail or by regular mail. Most come from parents who make suggestions about what their kids would most like to hear, or from children asking for gifts.

The charity pays for the stationery, envelopes, and postage for the letters from Santa, so all proceeds go to the food pantry. Mr. Murray and his secretary write the response letters themselves.

In reply to one child’s Christmas requests, Mr. Murray (playing Santa) wrote: “I looked up your name in the naughty and nice list and once again your name came right to the top. My elves are very busy making computer games and books just for you. Right now, they are loading the sleigh outside my workshop here in the North Pole.”

The charity makes a point of waiting to donate the money raised from the letter campaign until January, when holiday-inspired gifts slow to a trickle and the food pantry needs help to pay for winter necessities such as heating oil. “Everybody donates things in December, then December’s over with,” says Mr. Murray. “But the food pantry is year-round.”

For more information, contact Jim Murray, American Insurance Agency, 25 Lowell Street, Wilmington, Mass. 01887; (978) 657-0209; e-mail: amerins@tiac.net.