A seven-year-old’s letter to Santa inspires charity delivering 400,000 gifts

In December 1976, a seven-year-old boy named Craig wrote to Santa Claus after no presents had arrived the previous Christmas, and he drew a map to his home in case Santa had got lost. The letter never reached the North Pole. It arrived at Francisco’s, a restaurant in Seattle, where owner Dick Francisco read it and founded The Forgotten Children’s Fund that night.

That first Christmas reached 285 children in 81 families. According to the Fund’s website, the all-volunteer charity has since served more than 19,000 families and hand-delivered more than 400,000 gifts, and it marks its fiftieth Christmas in 2026.What happened to Craig's letter to Santa in December 1976According to the Fund's home page, the story began with a letter from seven-year-old Craig, who feared that Santa had got lost the year before, when no presents arrived. Craig drew Santa a map to his home.

The page states that a group of Seattle friends read the letter and made a promise that no child in their corner of the world should ever wonder whether Santa had forgotten them.