Carpenter moonlights as Santa’s helper, writing back to hopeful children

By Rachel Menitoff

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    CATONSVILLE, Maryland (WJZ) — Letters to Santa. It’s a tradition for many kids to send him their wish list this time of year, but there’s one Catonsville man who has taken on the responsibility of writing back.

Tucked away in the heart of Catonsville is Santa’s workshop, and one of his long-time helpers.

“Good feelings in my chest, in my inner heart, just good feelings about doing something for the community as well as for the children,” Santa’s helper Rick Brostrom said.

For the last 20 years, Brostrom has been collecting letters to Santa from kids in his community, reading all of them, and replying back.

“They can’t just tell their parents what they want for Christmas, and this is a way for them to show and express themselves,” Brostrom said.

He says some letters are silly, others are sweet, and a few are particularly heartwarming.

“Some of them make me cry,” Brostrom said. “One little girl, all she wanted was her home to have a new boyfriend. Maybe she lost her dad. In that case, you really feel it.”

Brostrom is a carpenter. He built a mailbox to store hundreds of letters addressed to Santa in the North Pole.

Whenever he sees a return address, he sends a note in return. It’s something he says he’ll continue doing: “until I’m dead, or until I die, is an easier way of saying it.”

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