Once again, people across the country responded to Macy’s Believe campaign and delivered 1 million letters to Santa that benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the courageous children we serve.

For every Santa letter delivered to the more than 800 Macy’s stores from Nov. 6-Dec. 24, Macy’s donated $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million. Macy’s and the Make-A-Wish Foundation announced reaching the million-dollar goal for the second consecutive year on the Dec. 23 edition of CBS’ The Early Show.

“We want to thank Macy’s and its associates across the country for their incredible generosity toward the Make-A-Wish Foundation and our courageous children again this year,” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer. “Everyone who delivered a letter to Santa helps us spread hope and joy every day all year long as we grant children’s fondest wishes.”

Scores of groups and individuals, including several wish kids, organized Believe letter-writing campaigns in their communities:

• Wish kid Justice set a goal of getting 1,000 letters in her upstate New York hometown. The weekend before Christmas, Justice delivered to her local Macy’s more than 10,100 letters to Santa bearing postmarks from across the country.
• Wish kid Rebecca of New York collected letters to Santa for the second consecutive year and brought in more than 1,700 letters to Macy’s after gathering more than 600 in 2008.
• In Minnesota, high school students from Spring Lake Learning Center visited a local elementary school to tell them about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and help them write letters to Santa to support the Foundation.
• A Girl Scout working on her Silver Award in Orange County, Calif., organized a letter-writing challenge for local troops in her area.
• In Chicago, several firefighters championed letter-writing campaigns and dropped off 12,388 letters at Macy’s flagship State Street store.

The Believe campaign is rooted in a letter to the editor written by 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon in 1897 asking if there is a Santa Claus. The New York Sun newsman Francis P. Church responded with a poignantly worded essay on the importance of believing, including the famous line, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist…”

For Macy’s media materials, images and contacts, please visit its online pressroom at www.macys.com/pressroom.

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation: The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 65 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 185,000 wishes in the United States since its inception. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish® .