Letter from Evergreen nine-year-old gets the attention of 'Santa Claus'

The Evergreen Courant usually gets only one call a year from the North Pole, but rarely do we get one from the big man himself, Santa Claus.

As everyone knows, Santa’s a busy man this time of year, and we usually only hear from one of his elves, letting us know that they’ve received several hundred letters from children in Conecuh County and to update Santa’s “Naughty or Nice List.” This year, we were surprised when Santa took the time to call himself to let us know about an extra special letter he received last week from a little girl in Evergreen.

Last Thursday, Evergreen mail carrier Cornell Berry collected a letter to Santa from an Evergreen address and had it express delivered to the North Pole along with a big sack of letters from dozens of other Conecuh County children. Santa read the letter that night and then called The Courant office bright and early on Monday to tell the newspaper about the letter he received from nine-year-old Janai Rankins of Evergreen.

Santa said that he receives hundreds of letters from Conecuh County children each year, but in all his years, he’s never received one quite like the one Rankins mailed to him last Thursday. Not only did the letter warm his heart and send a flutter of excitement throughout his busy workshop, but he said he feels that the letter so embodied the true spirit of Christmas that other people would benefit from hearing more about it.

Despite the long distance charges, Santa faxed The Courant a copy of the letter all the way from the North Pole on Monday and what follows is the complete text of the letter:

Dear Santa,
This year I don’t want you to bring me anything. There are children all over the world who don’t have any toys. So pleas take the toys you were going to give to me and give them to poor children insted. The world would be a better place if people had less toys and more peace and love.
Love,

Janai Rankins.

Santa wished to thank Rankins for her nice letter and to commend her for thinking of the less fortunate people of the world. He said that it’s true that the world is full of poor children without any toys, and that Rankins is right when she says that the world would be a better place if there was more peace and love. Christmas, after all, is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who walked among men over 2,000 years go, preaching his message of love and peace.

Santa also reminded us all, children and adults alike, that while it’s nice to get gifts during Christmas, it is truly better to give than to receive. With that in mind, Santa encourages everyone reading this special message to follow Rankins’ example and to think of the poor and less fortunate throughout the Christmas season and throughout the coming new year.

In the end, The Courant would also like to commend Rankins for her letter and to wish all of our readers a Merry Christmas.