Macy’s at South Coast Plaza doubles down on donations to Make-A-Wish during National Believe Day

Macy’s and its customers were in the spirit of holiday giving as the department store chain doubled donations Friday to Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire during its annual Believe letter-writing campaign.

Shoppers at Macy’s Costa Mesa location in South Coast Plaza wrote letters on National Believe Day to tell Santa Claus what they want for Christmas. For every letter deposited in the big red letter box, Macy’s donated $2 to help fulfill the wishes of critically ill children.

During the rest of the campaign, which runs through Dec. 24, Macy’s is donating $1 for every letter its shoppers write.

On National Believe Day in 2018, Macy’s at South Coast Plaza collected 4,389 letters. On Friday, the store estimated 2,500 were dropped off.

Addison Chang, a 10-year-old from Fountain Valley who is living with a heart condition, attended Friday’s event and helped write letters. In 2016, Make-A-Wish made it possible for her to meet the cast of her favorite movie, Disney’s “Descendants.”

Members of the Anaheim Police Department dropped off about 700 letters that they collected from their officers and students at area schools.

Macy’s Believe campaign started in 2008, inspired by Virginia O’Hanlon, a child who in 1897 wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper asking if Santa Claus is real. Francis Church, the newspaper’s editor at the time, responded: “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist.”

Macy’s collects letters for the campaign in stores or online at macys.com/believe.

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