Instead of his two front teeth, all 7-year-old Blake from Texas wants for Christmas is a “very very very good dad,” which he asked for in a heartbreaking letter to Santa.
The little boy has been living in a domestic violence shelter with his mother since Thanksgiving with 73 other kids and 46 adults. His mom found his Christmas wish list in his backpack.
The shelter, SafeHaven of Tarrant County, Texas, posted Blake’s letter to Kris Kringle on Facebook: “Dear Santa, We had to leave our house. Dad was mad. We had to do all the chores. Dad got everything he wanted. Mom said it was time to leave and she would take us to a safer place where we don’t have to be scared.”
In the letter, Blake asked St. Nick, “Are you going to come this christmas? We don’t have any of our stuff here,” and requested chapter books, a dictionary, a compass and a watch.
He then added, “I also want a very very very good dad. Can you do that too?”
“We had permission from Blake and his mom to post the letter, but they obviously had no idea how much attention it would receive,” Micah Thompson, SafeHaven’s director of marketing, tells The Post. “Blake’s letter paints such a great picture of what life is like in shelter for a child during the holidays. He is one of so many kids who are experiencing those same emotions this holiday season.”
The mother, who requested to keep her name private, is overwhelmed with all the support.
“Sometimes all our clients want is a cheerleader, and Blake and his mom have thousands of cheerleaders across the country now,” says Thompson.
Among the hundreds of comments on Facebook, one person wanted to open his home to Blake and his mom for the holidays. Others wanted to provide gifts. Others offered peace, love and understanding: Kiley Henderson wrote that Blake’s “belief in Santa is more important this year [than] ever.”
For the 119 women and children staying in the Fort Worth area shelter, SafeHaven has set up “Santa’s Sack,” a “toy store” created with 10,000 local donations for moms to shop from. And they’ve set up an Amazon “Wish List” for the many fans of Blake who want to help the shelter.
“The amount of monetary support and in-kind support we have received is honestly unreal,” says Thompson, adding that the Amazon wish list has to be constantly updated.
All this good cheer might not bring Blake a very very very good dad, but it certainly will make everyone’s Christmas at SafeHaven merrier.
“For a simple letter to Santa from a 7-year-old to empower so many people in different ways is truly incredible,” says Thompson. “Domestic violence is so hush-hush in our society today, and if his letter empowers anyone to share their story or to ask for help, then we’re better off than we were before.”
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