Location: Macy’s, Water Tower Place
Date: November & December 2013
“All I want for Christmas is a family”
If there was one project that I
had been waiting for since the beginning of the year; one program that I wanted
to be a part of; the one crown jewel that would be my most satisfying deed in what
had been an extraordinary year; it was this one – ‘Macy’s Believe Campaign’.
“I want to find happiness and feel proud of myself”
“Make sure my best friend is on the nice list”
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| Santa's Mailbox |
Last year I had called it my
absolute privilege to do this, to be entrusted with people’s heartfelt wishes
and deliver them to Make A Wish. I
was on the lookout for this opportunity on the MAW website and as soon as I saw
it open up, I committed to collect the letters from the Water Tower Macy’s; the
same location as the previous year.
I was thinking of switching to the State Street location, but I have always
been the one for nostalgia and so decided to go with the familiar location.
“Please heal all the sickness in the world. No one deserves that pain.
Everyone deserves to be cured”
“I want my mom to accept me for being gay”
I sent a note my site rep before
the scheduled start of the program, but never heard back. So the second weekend of November I
made my way to Macy’s and headed to the HR offices on 6th floor. The
folks over there had no idea why I was visiting, though one gentleman knew what
this was all about and took me down to the mailbox. As expected being
the first week, there weren’t a lot of postcards or letters in there. But it was a start to another magical
season.
“For Christmas I want all the soldiers home. Let all of them see the
people they love no matter what country they are from”
“I want him to see that he's enough and someone really cares”
Over the next few weeks I would
follow a similar routine where I would go over to Macy’s on either Saturday or
Sunday, pick-up the letters – from the offices now instead of the mailbox –
bring them back home to sort and then report the count to MAW. Then, the following week I would walk
over to MAW offices with the letters and deliver them in
person. And every week I would continue to get touched by people’s kindness
and generosity through the things they asked for, and feel the innocence of some
of the requests and yearning for things that no amount of money can buy.
“All I want for Christmas this year is first love”
“Please find a home for all the homeless dogs in the world”
This is a fund raiser for MAW and
every letter contributes $1 towards an organization that will put it to good
use. Thus like the previous year,
I posted on my Company’s network, urging my colleagues to write a letter to
Santa. Yes it would contribute to MAW, but more importantly, I wanted them to truly
believe in the power of a wish.
Two of them gave me a letter and both have since told me that their wish
did indeed come true!
“Thanks for making me smile during childhood. You always made my
Christmas”
“I want kids in orphanages to live their life with people who love them”
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| The supplies |
December 6th had been
nominated as the ‘National Believe Day’’,
meaning the contribution per letter would be double for letters posted that
day. I had saved my wish and so in the evening I walked up to Macy’s on State Street and wrote my
postcard. Around me were kids with
their families and they were doing the same. I closed my eyes, and with everything I held dear,
made my wish and dropped the post card in Santa’s mailbox.
“I just want my Mommy's love”
“I would love to have my daughter find peace”
Every week was up and down in
terms of the number of letters received, though my biggest haul came the week
before Christmas when the collection included bulk packages of letters from
children in schools, parishes and even hospitals.
“Please continue to hold all the children in need in your heart and
grant them a happy wonderful Christmas”
“Please solve world hunger”
I went away for Christmas and
came back for one final collection on December 30th. I dropped off the letters with MAW and
thanked them for once again giving me the opportunity to participate. As an organization, we had achieved our
fund raising goal, meaning that once again millions had believed.
“All I want from you this year is for my brother to get his Lego set
he's always wanted”
“I want my family to be happier this year and learn to love one another”
For me personally, it had been as
I had expected the absolute highlight of my year. It is difficult to make people understand what an absolute
privilege this is. A wish is a
sacred thing and sometimes it takes a whole lot of courage to say what you want
to say. It’s not just a collection
of potential dollars that I carry, its people’s hopes and dreams.
“Please send money and food to my parents”
“Well I don't want any toys. All I want is my mom to fall in love and
find a new husband. Please help her”
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| If you believe, he will come |
There are times when it feels as
if the world is getting more cynical by the day but it cannot be true based on
some of this wishes…messages of unconditional love and generosity. And while many who write these do not
expect miracles, the fact that they do write them tells me that they haven’t
given up. For sometimes when you
believe in the impossible, the improbably might just come true.
“Please cure my best friend from cancer”
“My wish for this year is for everyone in the world with a broken heart
to find love and happiness in their life”
This project has been and always
will be my absolute pride and joy. And yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
“Thank you for all the hard work that you put in every year to make the
holidays merry for kids around the world”
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