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7-year-old’s heartbreaking letter to Santa inspires flood of donations

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EDINBURG, Texas – A 7-year-old Texas girl’s Christmas wish list has hundreds of people donating after her first-grade teacher shared her humble requests on Facebook.

Ruth Espiricueta told KGBT one of her students at Monte Cristo Elementary School in Edinburg, Crystal Pacheco, wrote the letter after a lesson about the difference between wanting and needing something.

“I have binde (been) good this day,” Crystal wrote. “This Christmas I would like a ball and a food. I need a blancet.”

Espiricueta said she was moved to share the letter after asking Crystal why she thought she wanted food but needed a blanket. “Well, I get to eat at school – sometimes I may not have at home, but I get to eat at school. A blanket I have one, but it’s not warm enough,” her teacher recalled Crystal saying.

Espiricueta posted a photo of the letter to Saint Nick on Wednesday, writing:

This makes me very sad. When your students ask for food, blankets, or a bed instead of toys😔
As a teacher it breaks my heart when I hear them ask for things that we sometimes take for granted.
Hopefully I will be able to fulfill at least one of their Christmas wishes

Sine then, hundreds of blankets and other items have been donated to the school, according to KRGV.

The school shared a post from one person who says she was touched by the photo and brought toys and blankets but didn’t realize that they were for a girl, not a boy. Nashley Nicole wrote on Facebook:

“The heart of this little girl is SO BIG, i didn’t expect to actually meet her but for some reason they asked me to wait and brought her to me. She opened her gift and had the BIGGEST smile in her face, no concern that It was boy stuff! Just a genuine happy smile! God Bless this princess for life, now she has my heart forever!”

The school also posted photos of some of the donations, writing, “God bless all the people who donated blankets and toys for the children.”

Crystal’s mother told KGBT, “I’m just very emotional and proud of my children, because I raise them to appreciate the little that we have.”