A very simple letter by a first grade child to Santa has gone viral. An elementary school teacher posted it to a social media account because it was heartbreaking, and that heartbreak—accentuated at this time of year—found some sympathy in a larger, digital community.
Ruth Espiricueta, a first-grade teacher at Monte Cristo Elementary School in Edinburg, Texas, asked her students this week to write a letter to Santa Claus about something they want and something they need, after a lesson about the difference between the two. When school was dismissed for the day, Espiricueta began reading the letters and was taken aback in particular by one student's note.
The 7-year-old girl wrote to Santa, “I have [been] good this day. This Christmas I would like a ball and a food. I need a [blanket].”
You can see the post below.
Since the 7-year-old, identified as Crystal Pacheco, wrote the letter, she and her school have seen an outpouring of generosity. Ms. Espiricueta posted this on Saturday.
Thank you to everyone that has been donating to Crystal and her family and to our students at Monte Cristo Elementary. Our students will be able to have a blessed and Merry Christmas.
There has not been a Go Fund Me account created. Any donations can be made to our school Monte Cristo Elementary.
The address is 4010 N. Doolittle Rd.
Edinburg, Texas 78541.
Once we have surpassed the goal of 724 blankets we will be donating them to other students and families that are also in need. Thank you once again to all that have donated and shared my post.
Monte Cristo students and staff are extremely grateful. Thank you for allowing our students to be able to have a blessed and Merry Christmas.
To all have a Merry Christmas and many blessings to you and your families.
Hundreds of items and blankets have been donated to the school, according to KRGV.
As word spread people started showing up to the elementary school with donations in hand. The school's leaders decided to organize a blanket drive. Hundreds of blanket donations poured in from across the Valley.
And unlike the people who have the power to help fund things like health and food and shelter programs for the children who need those basic amenities, the child writing here isn’t thinking of herself alone.
After speaking to Crystal's mother, we learned she was thinking about much more than herself when writing to Santa.
"She wrote the card thinking about her brother, she said she wanted the ball to play with him, food to have food at the house and a blanket because the house is too cold," said her mother, Maria Isabel Cortez.