Workers Lowe’s Home Improvement department store in Franklin, North Carolina were stunned last month when they opened their store mailbox to find a heartbreaking letter that a little girl had written to Santa Claus in which she asked for a new kidney for her older brother.
The letter was written in green, blue and purple crayon, and it was only signed “Kaitlyn FL.”
“Dear Santa, Some may not believe in you. But I do. One thing I really want for Christmas is my big brother to get a kidney transplant. PLEASE,” the letter read.
Shelly Thomas, the store’s manager, found the letter on November 23 when she was cleaning out the mailbox, a task that is done every day.
“We take the letters out and sometimes we read them because you never know what the big item will be this year,” she said. “We have these fill-out forms for Santa, but this one was written on the back of one of the coloring sheets. It really touched me.”
Shelly added that she checked surveillance footage to try and find the little girl or her parents, but she was not able to spot them. She then posted the letter to Facebook in the hopes of finding Kaitlyn, and the letter quickly went viral.
“This is a ‘Letter to Santa’ that was left in Santa’s mailbox at Lowe’s of Franklin,” Shelly wrote. “Our company is wanting to see if anyone out there may know who this child is. If you would, please share this so we can possibly get in contact with this family.”
Given the fact that there was an “FL” next to Kaitlyn’s name, it is thought that the family may have been visiting from Florida.
“We haven’t been able to reach the folks but what I really hope is that we find them, give them support, let them know someone cares,” Shelly said. “So many people have said they’re willing to get tested and if we can get even one more person registered [to be an organ donor], it’s all worth it.”
We can only hope that Kaitlyn is eventually found and that her brother gets the kidney that he needs!
