Local Family Collecting Letters to Santa to Support Make-A-Wish

A Merrimack family who feels blessed by the support they’ve received from the Make-A-Wish Foundation is shooting to give at least a couple hundred dollars back to the organization through Macy’s Believe Campaign benefitting Make-A-Wish.

LeeAnn Vigeant, whose 7-year-old daughter Hannah lives with cystic fibrosis, said her family is holding an open house on Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for people to drop off letters to Santa or, to stop in a write a quick wish list to send to the North Pole.

Vigeant said the letters will be hand delivered to the mailbox stationed in Bedford Macy’s by Hannah and her family on Friday, Dec. 6, which is National Believe Day. Each letter dropped in retailer's Believe Boxes earns a dollar for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Hannah was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Oct. 2012 to visit Disney World with her family, Vigeant said.

“She felt every inch a princess while we were there,” Vigeant said. “She looked at us at one point and said ‘I don’t mind having CF this week.’”

Vigeant said the letter writing campaign is really easy. All someone has to do is write a letter to Santa, put it in an envelope, stamp it and drop it in any of the Believe boxes in Macy’s.

The Vigeants are making it even easier. Drop your letter by their home at 4 Ivy Drive on Saturday. It doesn’t even have to be in an envelope or stamped, and they’ll have paper and pens on hand if someone wants to stop in and write a letter. They’ll take care of the rest.

As one of at least eight children in Merrimack who’ve been granted wishes by Make-A-Wish for various illnesses, Vigeant said Hannah has become a Wish Ambassador. Her sister Julia, a student at Merrimack Middle School, is  a Wish Volunteer. They took a short course to earn the titles and enjoy being connected so closely with the organization, Vigeant said.

In addition to the open house, students at Hannah’s School, Mastricola Elementary School, are writing letters and sending them home with Hannah in advance of National Believe Day.  Julia is also hoping to get students at MMS to participate.

Vigeant said Make-A-Wish NH  has  a goal of collecting 200,000 letters this holiday season. Vigeant said they’d love to contribute at least 200. 

A family friend has already hopped on board and sent the Vigeants 50 cards to include in their special delivery.

Anyone who can stop by the Vigeant home between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30 to help with the letter campaign would be greatly appreciated, Vigeant said.

“We all just literally let out a sigh and just enjoyed it,” Vigeant said of their week in Florida. “We feel we were given such a gift, we want to give all we can back.”

Anyone who cannot drop a letter at the Vigeant's house can stop at any Macy's and deposit letters to Santa in the Believe Santa Mail boxes until Dec. 24. Macy's will donate up to a million dollars through this campaign. For more information visit the Macy's Believe Campaign website.