Macy’s ‘Believe’ Campaign for Make-A-Wish® - Part 1

Location: Macy’s in Water Tower Place

Date: November & December 2012

Dear Santa indeed

For the past four years, Macy’s has been running a ‘Believe’ campaign in its department stores throughout the country.  Through this, kids (and other believers) drop letters to Santa at a local Macy’s Santa Mail letterbox.  For each letter, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million.  This funding helps grant wishes for children with life-threatening diseases.  For the current season,  Make-A-Wish was looking for, was volunteers to pick up the letters from a certain Macy’s location, count them and deliver to Make-A-Wish.  When I found this opportunity on their website, I saw that the Macy’s in Water Tower Place still required a volunteer.  While it would have been an ideal thing for me to do, I was concerned about signing up for something which was a weekly commitment for two months.  Based on what has happened since, saying ‘yes’ was the best decision I ever made. 

I was contacted by Jeanne, who was coordinating this program for Make-A-Wish.  She sent me a schedule for pick-up, which was usually over the weekends.  Following the pick-up, I was required to count the letters, mail those which were stamped, and then deliver to Make-A-Wish the rest through special boxes that she would send.  When I realized that their office was near my company’s location, I told Jeanne that I would just stop by each week to drop off the letters.

I went to Macy’s the first week of November and was directed to the Human Resources office.  There I met Amy, my contact at Macy’s.  She told me that they would gather letters each week and put them in a bag for me.  All I had to do was come over once a week and collect them.  I took that week’s haul, which wasn't a lot since it was the first week, and left.  At home I sorted through the postcards and the letters.  Some of the envelopes were stamped and I could mail them directly.  They were addressed to ‘Santa, The North Pole’ and believe it or not, every letter addressed this way gets to a Post-office in New York City.  There were other envelopes that were sealed, but not stamped and we had been instructed not to open any letters.  However, there were several postcards that I couldn't help but look at as I sorted through the mail.  Some of the messages were for toys while some were for more expensive things.   But there was no denying that most of the children, and some adults, who had written this truly believed in Santa or at least the power of a wish.

 

Make-A-Wish Office

I sent my email report to Jeanne and the following week went to their offices to deliver the letter.  Jeanne met me and even gave me a brief tour.  I got a sense that none who worked there were doing it as a job.  We walked past a wall which had pictures of hundreds of children getting their wish granted.  I paused and after apologizing for what was probably going to be insensitive, asked Jeanne what the survival rate was.  She said that ever since Make-A-Wish started in the 80s, it has been going up.  With advances in medicine, a child now has a realistic chance of getting cured and living a normal life.  Remember it is ‘life threatening’, not ‘terminal’.

I nodded and left after thanking Jeanne.  As I walked back to work I realized that the next few weeks were going to be an experience like never before.  Yes, some of the letters would be heart-breaking to read, but there would also be hope and love.  More importantly, I knew that by the end of this, I would be a believer.