The Editor,
My daughter has reached an age were she questions the existence of Santa Claus. In the hope of dragging the wonderful family tradition on for one more year, I searched for support. I found the classic response to a letter addressed to the editor of the New York Sun, "Yes Virginia."
Tears filled my eyes as I read of children who "do not believe except they see." There is no time as cynical as now, so I need proof, "He exists as certainly as love and generosity ... exist."
B.C. has the highest poverty rate in Canada. Children go to school with no lunch. This I have seen myself. Charles Dickens wrote, "It is at this time of the year want is most keenly felt." Many homes will not see gifts under the tree. Many children will wake to disappointment. So what about Santa?
Editor, this is where I need help. All over Richmond, volunteers shake bells to raise money for the poor. Organizations collect food donations. The evidence that Santa exists will be in the response of the people of Richmond.
"No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
Scott Stewart Richmond
