The letters to Santa that will leave you heartbroken
A little boy’s sweet letter to Santa has broken the hearts of thousands online after he admitted he just wants to be loved.
The young boy, known as Will, wrote a letter to Father Christmas as part of the US Postal Service’s “Operation Santa”, an initiative that helps children and families in need at Christmas.
In his handwritten note, Will said all he wants for Christmas is to be loved the way he is.
He wrote: “Dear Santa, do you support the LGBTQ community?
“And if you can speak to God can you tell him I love him and [ask] if he loves me for being gay?
“Thank you. Love, Will.”
The heartwrenching message was posted to the postal service’s website, which then made its way on to Twitter.
“This letter to Santa broke my heart,” wrote Twitter user Nancy.
Her tweet ended up going viral and garnered 200,000 likes and over 22,000 retweets.
“This hurts my heart so much. I hope Will and all the other little LGBTQ+ babies know (and get told) they’re so, so loved,” one person wrote.
“Being a queer kid is so difficult. I hope this little boy knows that God does love him no matter what,” another said.
Others said they were “crying” and a “blubbering mess” after reading the note.
Some of the other emotional letters including a child asking for help to pay his parent's bills.
“We also need internet so I can study,” the child said.
One girl called Kayla asked Santa to bring her a sofa bed, saying her parents spell on a sofa in their one-bedroom unit.
She added that her dad “works a lot” and she doesn’t want him to wake with “back pain”.
Another child, Almir, spoke about his mum who recently passed away from cervical cancer, and said how hard it has been on his entire family.
He asked Santa to help his loved ones at Christmas, and also asked for some gloves and a coat to keep him warm.
“These break my heart,” one person declared.
“This is the most heart breaking thing,” another agreed.
Operation Santa began in the US in 1912 when Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorised local Postmasters to allow postal employees and citizens to respond to the letters – a program that eventually became known as Operation Santa.