Student Delivers Letters to Santa, Raises $2,714 for Make-A-Wish

Kendall Ohrwashel, a senior at , is no stranger to Nazareth Patch, and she's making news once again for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

On Dec. 9, Ohrwashel headed to Macy's in the Lehigh Valley Mall to drop off 1,357 letters to Santa. For every letter dropped in Macy's "Believe" campaign box, $1 is donated to Make-A-Wish.

Macy's will donate up to $1 million, which will help grant more than 55 wishes across the country and create a day of Wishes Across America for children with life-threatening medical conditions, according to press release from Macy's.

Ohrwashel, however, delivered the handwritten, festively decorated letters on "Double Donation Day" -- the 1,357 letters netted a total of $2,714 "wish dollars."

Ohrwashel's friend, Erin Smith, of , was also on hand to deliver the letters.

In an e-mail to Patch, Monique Ohrwashel, Kendall's mother, explained that her daughter sent details about the "Believe" campaign to friends, family and school administrators.

Here's an approximate break down of where the 1,357 letters came from:

• About 450 letters were collected from Nazareth Area High School students. The swim team collected the letters during lunch.

• About 250 letters were collected from students.

• About 120 letters were collected from students.

• About 100 letters were collected from students

• About 200 letters were collected from Ohrwashel's family and friends.

• About 200 letters were collected from Ohrwashel's friend in New Jersey.

• About 240 letters were collected from Marvine Elementary School students (Washington, New Jersey).

According to www.macys.com/believe, a total of 694,722 letters to Santa were received -- as of press time.

The Nazareth-area letters to Santa, according to Monique, were filled with all kinds of wishes, both material and non-material.

Puppies and the iPod Touch topped the list of material things, Monique said, adding that health for the children with life-threatening medical conditions was, of course, a popular request.

Requests for happiness, world peace and toys for every child were also included in many letters.

According to Monique, "All Nazareth letter writers can rest assured that the letters were dropped off [and] are in the mailbox for delivery to Santa."