How a mail mess turned a Manhattan couple into Santa Claus for all of New York

Jim Glaub and Dylan Parker have just received the keys to their new Manhattan apartment on 22nd Street. And the outgoing tenant said something curious: “For you to know, there is such a thing. Letters addressed to Santa arrive at the apartment.” Previous residents also received such mail, reports RD.

She came for years and no one knew why.

Glaub and Parker have settled into their new home. And for the first two years, only a few letters came from children who asked Santa for gifts that they could not afford: toys, coats, dolls. Then, in the months leading up to Christmas 2010, they were bombarded with letters. Every day they opened the mailbox and it was full of letters to Santa. They answered everything they could, wrote notes. We even bought gifts.

Glaub is certainly not Santa. He runs a marketing company on Broadway. But one night, when she and Parker were having a 1960s-style Christmas party, a solution appeared. The guests, dressed in trendy outfits and hippie beads, noticed hundreds of letters that Glaub and Parker had not yet processed hidden in the corner of their dining room and asked about them.

“I told them the story,” Glaub says. His guests were intrigued. Many said: “I will take the letter. I will fulfill it.” ”

Glaub and Parker then realized that they didn't have to carry out all those letters themselves. "People want to help."

Thus, Miracle on 22nd Street was born. This public volunteer organization responds to children's letters to Santa with congratulations and gifts for children.

To spread the word, they created www.miracleon22ndstreet.com and a Facebook page. Collaborating with other non-profit organizations helping those in need, they invited families from all over the country to visit the site and ask for gifts for their children. Similarly, donors, also known as "elves", can sign up to buy gifts for a child or family by accompanying a signed note with Elf in front of their name, such as Elf Jim or Elf Jody. Both families and "elves" are tested either by non-profit organizations or by Miracle on 22nd Street.

The letters usually ask for popular products such as Paw Patrol and CoComelon for young children. As well as cosmetics and bicycles for older children. One child wrote that he suffers from back pain when he sleeps on the couch in the living room. With the permission of the boy's parents, the "elf" bought him a bed.

On the subject: No matter what they tell you, but the birthplace of Santa Claus in New York: it was here that he was invented

Some of the letters are just heartbreaking. One child wrote: “Dear Santa, for Christmas I want my brothers to get well. My younger brother has difficulty walking and has to use a wheelchair. I wish he could play like me. I also want my little brother to be able to eat like me. And that he didn't have a feeding tube. I know these aren't real gifts, but that's all I want this year."

This is a difficult task for any elf. But Miracle on 22nd Street did send gift cards and a kind note to the kids.

Glaub and Miracle on 22nd Street helped over 800 families last year. One of the beneficiaries wrote on Facebook: “Hello to my children's elf! You helped give the recently single mom of 4 the best present ever. You gave my little ones a reason to smile and enjoy Christmas after all we've been through. All I wanted was to see them happy. And I got exactly what I wanted.”

Glaub no longer thinks about why letters come to the apartment. For him, the main thing is the long hours of work to help families. “It's part of Christmas for me,” he says. “So do elves and families. They are looking forward to it. Without it, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas."