By Robert Abate
Every year at this time, I remember Christmas, 1974. It was mid-December, we had just moved from the Bronx to our first house and were watching Johnny Carson one evening. He and his sidekick, Ed McMahon, were jokingly reading a few children’s letters to Santa Claus and mentioned that similar letters were available from most post offices.
The next day, my wife, two year-old daughter and I made a brief stop at the Bronx Central Post Office at 149th Street and the Grand Concourse to pick up a letter. I walked into the superintendent’s office, asking for a Santa letter, and he pointed to a pile on a table saying, “I haven’t had time to sort them yet, just take them, pick out the one you want and bring back the rest.” So I did and left.
I asked my wife to read them and pick one out. It was the only time there was total silence in our car. When we parked, I asked her which one she would select and she said that I would have to make that choice. Once I read the letters, I understood why. Not one single child asked Santa anything for himself or herself alone. They asked for their family — a doll for a little sister, a puzzle for an older brother, a sweater for a mother, gloves for a father — and only lastly, if Santa could, maybe a baseball or a scarf for him or her.
I was stunned and humbled by their selflessness and consideration for others. I could not choose one so I chose all. Every letter was copied and with the help of a friend of mine — Phil O’Brien, also from the Bronx — a number of businesses and organizations were contacted for whatever contributions or items they could donate.
We contacted virtually every FDNY firehouse and NYPD precinct in the Bronx where we were able to post the “Letters to Santa” along with our phone number and address. Soon thereafter, firemen and policemen began stopping by my house with “gently-used” toys, games, clothing and other assorted items for the families. My entire dining and living room were soon filled with these gifts, carefully wrapped and tagged for each family member — almost three hundred gifts for seventy-three children.
Bob Abate is a resident of Yonkers.
