NanaFinds continues to receive pleas for Christmas help from parents unable to provide Christmas gifts for their children this year. Mothers on disability, a family about to lose their home and their business, homeless family living with family members, and others unemployed for sometime are some that have contacted me. My hope is that by my posting information about companies and agencies that reach out to families in need, that they can find the help they so desparately need…or that those in the position to help, find them.

The Boston Globe in Boston, MA, has been providing Christmas gifts for the children of families in need in the Boston area since 1956. If you live in their readership area, please follow the directions below on how to register to receive Christmas gifts for your children or how to donate to help the Globe Santa project.

How Globe Santa Works

Since 1956, Globe Santa has been The Boston Globe’s annual appeal for needy children in Greater Boston. The Globe Santa Fund collects donations from readers and advertisers to purchase holiday gifts for underprivileged children. The Globe pays administrative costs and provides space in the newspaper during the holiday season to publish stories about family needs and list the names of people who give. In recent years, Globe Santa has received more than $1 million dollars in contributions annually. The program helps brighten the holiday season for more than 29,000 families and 57,000 children in 167 communities every year.

•Families request toys by writing to Globe Santa, stating their family size and need. This need must be verified and countersigned by a social service or religious agency that has previously registered with Globe Santa Fund. The agency must have documented records of the particular family’s situation. The deadline for family letters this year is December 4, 2009.
•Agencies that can verify requests include welfare offices, hospitals, churches and clergy, halfway houses, AFDC office and similar social service organizations.
•Agencies must register with Globe Santa each year. The registration procedure is announced in the Boston Globe and by mail to agencies that registered in the previous year. The deadline for agency registration this year is October 31.
•Families apply for assistance during October and November. The application procedure is published in detail in ads in the Globe that run from October 1 through December 4, 2009.
•Toys are delivered to family households beginning the first week in December right up to two days before Christmas.

How Globe Santa Works
Phone 617-929-2007
Email santa@globe.com
The Boston Globe Foundation, d/b/a Globe Santa Fund Trust
135 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125

Please note,  family requests are NOT accepted via email.

About Requests

Family Requests

This year, the deadline for all requests from families seeking Globe Santa aid will be December 4, 2009. Any letters received after the deadline can not be honored.

The requirements to qualify for Globe Santa are as follows:

Each family requesting aid must write their own letter containing

•an explanation of the family’s need
•the family’s name, address, apt. number, zip code, telephone number, email address, names, age and gender of each child 12 years old and under.

Also, the letter must be countersigned by a licensed and registered social worker who has knowledge of the family and documented evidence or records of their need or by a clergyperson who has up-to-date congregation census records and/or documentation of the family’s need.

Letters must be received by December 4, 2009
Mail requests to:
Globe Santa
P.O. Box 55820
Boston, MA 02205-5820

Agency and Clergy Requests

All social service agencies and clergy countersigning Globe Santa letters must be registered with the Globe Santa office by October 31, 2009. To register, please write a letter on your agency or church letterhead, with brief description of agency, names of those people who will be countersigning letters, email address and agency telephone numbers. The acceptability of the agencies registering will be at the discretion of the Globe Santa Fund. All letters must contain both the signature and office stamp/or Church Seal. Letters not containing either of these requirements will not be honored. Letters received from agencies or clergy not registered with Globe Santa office can not be honored.

Send letter of registration by October 31st to:
Globe Santa
P.O. Box 55820
Boston, MA 02205-5820

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