By Steve Bradley
Hoosick Falls Central School’s Luke Hoag delivered over 77,000 letters to Santa as part of the Macy’s department store “Believe Day.” Macy’s donates $2 to Make-A-Wish for every letter that was delivered on December 7, meaning Luke’s letters raised $154,000 for the campaign. Luke has been delivering letters to Santa for several years and this year he brought a record amount to Macy’s in the Colonie Center.
Luke, a sixth grader, had letters from all 50 states and many countries.
Luke was diagnosed at a very early age with an inoperable brain tumor, and at age three, was granted his own wish from the foundation. He now returns that gift many times over with his letter writing effort each year.
This year’s campaign was bolstered by Quinnipiac University, who brought Luke over 11 thousand letters gathered from around the school’s Connecticut campus. The effort there was spearheaded by Abbie O’Neill, a Specialist for Student Engagement at the University. She said “I have known Luke since he was a baby. It is inspirational to see him put in all this time and effort.”