Copyright The Boston Globe
To understand how major economic and social headwinds have affected the lives of ordinary, struggling Americans over the years, you can read books or journalistic accounts. Or you can read letters to Globe Santa. That’s because Globe Santa follows the news, and always has. This is from a column in 1965, a time when textile mills were leaving Massachusetts: “How do you tell a 4-year-old that, because of industrial changes, cotton factories have moved to the South and her father no longer has a job?” Over the decades, Globe Santa has received letters about the human cost of recession, escalating health care costs, inflation, and an opioid crisis, such as the 2017 letter from a grandmother with custody of her 12-year-old grandson. He’d lost his dad to fentanyl and heroin. “His mom is lost too,” she wrote. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were countless letters from parents rendered jobless. There have been many from traumatized refugees who fled Ukraine and Central America, as well as from parents who can’t afford to work with the cost of child care remaining too high. So it was perhaps inevitable that this year would see a crush of letters from families whose struggles reflect three of the most momentous news stories of the year — the federal government shutdown, the uncertainty of SNAP benefits, and federal policies targeting immigrants. “As a military family, the recent government shutdown affected us in ways many civilians didn’t experience,” a mother of a newborn wrote Globe Santa. “It caused an unexpected setback in our finances and made it difficult to keep up with some of our priorities.” Diapers and baby formula are among those priorities, her husband said in a telephone interview. A father of three wrote that he is trying to hide from his children some of his “hopefully temporary” financial difficulties which have emanated from the government shutdown. “I am working to develop new technology in the dredging/marine safety space, but the bankruptcy of a large client with unpaid bills and the Government shutdown has significantly hindered income (the Army Corps of Engineers is a huge partner.)” For many who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to put food on the table, this is a truly alarming time. Two federal judges on Friday said the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP, using contingency funds during the shutdown. One in six Massachusetts residents receive SNAP benefits; more than half of them live in Greater Boston. For many letter-writers who are already overburdened, simply anticipating life without this vital benefit exacerbates their distress. My income is very low, which during the holidays is very concerning because I have to choose between paying the bills or buying Christmas presents. This year is going to be even more difficult because, if the government stops my food stamps, that’s another economic burden I’ll have to carry on my shoulders, which means that now I’ll have to choose between food, bills and Christmas, and obviously I have to feed my daughter. Please help me!!! My son had bilateral surgery on his feet in June. I just had a cancerous growth and piece of my lung and lymph node removed in October. I was out of work to help him recover. I am now out of work for my recovery. We are in the middle of the government shut down and potentially will not get our assistance that I count on to live. This year has been difficult. With high electricity bills I had to choose sometimes to not pay my bill and use it to pay for food for my kids, especially with the prices of food. Now I am even more scared since SNAP will most likely not be available due to government shutdown. Globe Santa also got mail this year about ICE — and not the kind in the North Pole. A mother wrote on behalf of her 4-year-old twin boys who are “full of curiosity and energy” — and also strong and resilient. “Earlier in the year, they went through something very difficult when their father was taken by ICE and deported to Guatemala in August,” she wrote. In an interview, she said immigration officials were looking for someone else when they apprehended her husband, but they took him anyway. The couple had started a business together but she hasn’t been able to keep it running. “I am raising [the children] on my own, and it has been tough without their dad,” she wrote. “Everything is financially on me. This Christmas, I hope [they] can feel some extra magic and happiness.” For 70 years Globe Santa, a program of the Boston Globe Foundation, has provided gifts to children in need at holiday time. Please consider giving by phone, mail, or online at globesanta.org.
