On the Ninth Day of Christmas, My Sponsor Gave to Me…

Nine Sponsor Letters

“Dear Santa…”

How many millions of letters are written with those opening words each year? From Barbies to Xboxes to “I wish my parents were back together,” letters to Santa reveal the deepest longings in the hearts of our children.

I used to adore writing letters to Santa; in fact, they were a tradition in my household. As a budding writer, I’d spend Christmas Eve penning my masterpieces, which were left on the hearth of our big stone fireplace. And Santa always wrote back, with a funny quip or cute rhyme. Here’s one from 1978: “I’m hungry and sleepy and weary and tired, but if I don’t hurry back to Mrs. Claus, I’ll likely be fired!”

Even after I knew the truth about Santa, the letter writing didn’t stop. Each year it became a contest between my father and me to top each other’s letters. I’d try to come up with some clever premise – sort of like a game of “Stump the Santa.” One year I’d write in the voice of a jaded socialite waiting for a manicure and a facial, the next as an immigrant who didn’t understand who this “Scanty Claws” person was.

On Christmas morning, before I even looked in my stocking, I’d hunt for “Santa’s” reply. There it would be, in my father’s neat, all-caps penmanship. That special communication between my father and me remains one of my most treasured Christmas memories.

Sponsored children are just as excited about receiving letters from their sponsors. I can’t tell you how many sponsored families I’ve visited where a child would pull out a stack of carefully preserved letters to proudly show me.

The children yearn to know their sponsors and truly want to enjoy a personal relationship with them. They’ll crowd around me and ask, “Do you know my sponsor? Can you tell him I said hello?” If you’ve ever worried that the children don’t understand the connection between the benefits they receive and the sponsor who is providing them, have no fear. They know…and they care.

So if you’re wanting to do something special for your child without spending any money, the answer is simple: write him or her a letter. You’ll find more information and writing tips here. I guess it will make your child's day (or month...or year!) to hear from you.

Posted on behalf of Gretchen Dellett.

It’s so much more than design... It’s creativity!

Every wonder what’s behind the design of the child letters you receive? Javier Cárcamo, the Communications Coordinator at our agency in rural Guatemala, explains how the letters from children at his agency reach their finished form.

The forms that children use to write letters to their sponsors are something more than just graphic design. In our agency, these forms are an exercise in creativity that go through many processes to guarantee that the letter templates are attractive and functional. We keep the sponsors who receive them in mind, as well as the children who must feel motivated to write.

The process begins when the bilingual assistants give their recommendations based on their translation methods in order to maximize their output.

The Communications Coordinator immediately gets to work interpreting their suggestions into graphic designs. These designs are based on several factors: the appearance that the agency decides upon, educational principles that are sensitive to the rural Guatemalan culture, achievements and limitations, as well as the social obligation to make the letters have an educational function. All of the above must respect the guidelines set by Children International. The templates are then proofed by children, youth and Field Officers who make their observations.

Once the changes are made, our Director supervises and checks the final designs so that the Sponsor Relations Departments in both the Regional Office and in Kansas City can authorize their printing. Then follow up work is performed in color mixing and in the actual printing of the letter templates. Now that’s TEAM WORK!

Behind the Scenes: You’ve Got Mail!

One of the most thrilling parts of sponsoring a child is receiving letters and drawings from the child you sponsor. These letters and drawings form an emotional connection between sponsor and child and provide memories that last a lifetime.

But receiving that envelope in your mailbox is just the culmination of a pretty involved process – a process that begins at a Children International community center half a world away. In today’s post I want to give you a peek at what it takes for you to receive a letter from your sponsored child.


Often, the journey begins when your sponsored child visits the Children International community center in his or her area to write you a letter. Children who are too young to write will be accompanied by an older family member who will do the writing for them, but older children write the letters themselves. Many of our community centers serve around 5,000 children, so you can imagine the hustle and bustle at letter writing time!

When all the children have written their letters, the letters are collected and taken to the agency’s central office for scanning. Then they are boxed up and shipped to Kansas City. Just to give you an idea of the volume of letters, Jessica estimates that she handles 40-60,000 pieces of child-related correspondence every month!

Once Jessica receives the shipments of letters from the agencies (all 18 of them), she launches a complex process that involves scanning the letters again, creating an envelope file, printing the envelopes, folding the letters and matching letters with envelopes. To ensure accuracy and quality, each child letter envelope is hand-stuffed and double-checked before finally being mailed out to the sponsor.

You might think that, after handling so many letters from children to sponsors, child letters might lose their magic for our employees who handle the mail – many of whom are sponsors themselves. But Jessica assures us that’s not the case. “[The letters from my sponsored child] would have to be the letters that really touch me personally and I read over and over, and I can’t wait for the next one to come in the mail,” she insists.

There’s another unique angle to Jessica’s work, though. She is not the first person in her family to handle letters from children to sponsors. Until her retirement late last year after 41 years of service, Jessica’s grandmother, Dorothy Koch, also worked with child correspondence. And besides making sure you received your child’s letters, Dorothy always took care of another very important responsibility here at Children International: She was the one who put the coffee on to brew in the morning!

“I like to think that I have filled her shoes well,” says Jessica of her grandmother. “I think that she has helped me become the hard worker that I am today. Children International has a special place in her heart and I believe it does hold the same special place in mine.”

Jessica is carrying on her grandmother’s work in more ways than one. Your child’s letters are still reaching you safe and sound…and the coffee is still brewed fresh every morning.

Top: Jessica is a vital link between sponsors and their sponsored children.

Middle: Jessica and the smiling "Letter Ladies" of Children International.

Bottom: Dorothy seals 41 years of faithful service with a cake and the best wishes of all her co-workers.