Lives upended by crises, mothers ask Globe Santa for help

There are times in most everyone’s life when they are obliged to make tough decisions.

For a mother of two young children who wrote to Globe Santa, last year was one of those times.

“I left a toxic relationship with my children’s father,” she explained. “It was best for our safety to leave ASAP.”

The move has given her a far greater sense of security, but the next steps will take time.

“I had nowhere to go as I was a stay-at-home mom,” she wrote. “I moved in with my grandmother.”

She’s looking for work now, but faces the same problem vexing many parents of young children – a lack of affordable childcare. The average annual cost of infant care in Massachusetts is nearly $21,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

That’s $1,743 a month, a staggering burden for a single mother, and the second-highest cost among the 50 states.

What’s more, her children are 8 and 5, so she can only work during school hours. “I am trying to get after-school care but there is a waiting list,” she wrote.

Her son and daughter have endured a great deal of the chaos and disruption, and she wants them to celebrate the holidays knowing that they were not forgotten. “My children and I have been through a lot and I want to make a magical day for them,” she wrote.

Globe Santa helps make that wish come true, delivering quality gifts to thousands of families annually since 1956.

A mother of three from Boston’s North Shore whose son is facing a serious health challenge also asked Globe Santa to include her family on this year’s list.

She gave birth a year ago to her youngest son last year, but he spent the first few months of his life in a hospital intensive care unit.

While his mother didn’t reveal the child’s diagnosis, she said that his ongoing care makes it impossible for her to continue working, at least for now.

“If I could get a little help to make my kids’ holiday, I would be so grateful,” she wrote. “One day when I am in a good place, I will return the favor to another family in my position.”

These two families, and thousands of others facing hardships, will receive gifts for their children this year from Globe Santa.

For more than six decades, the campaign has relied on the overwhelming generosity of donors, many of whom remember Globe Santa from their own childhood.

abcde

For 68 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.