The holidays have been defined by symbols for years and everyone classifies them differently.

The holidays often are symbol of gifts, colorful decorations and the hope for a prosperous new year.

However, for a few special children, it is the symbol of love and hope; the love of family and the hope for a cure. These are the children of the Make a Wish Foundation.

Founded in the 1980’s, the Make a Wish Foundation has been making wishes come true for terminally ill children, and like everybody else, they work twice as hard around the holidays. During the month of December, the Make a Wish foundation has helper elves in Macy’s stores across the country and for every letter written to Santa in their stores, Macy’s will donate one dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation.

If reading this, you are wondering “what this has to do with anything?” I’ll tell you. I’ve always loved the holidays, but this year I was a bit of a scrooge. Not being in the holiday spirit, I wondered “what is the point in any of it?” My mother, how I love her, tried everything. Holiday shopping, food, music, but nothing really worked. And then it happened. I encountered a child at work (I am a promoter at a radio station) and she was spending the holidays without her mother. Heart-broken, I had to do something, anything. Though she was not a Make a Wish child and her mother is in the army and stationed over-seas, she still inspired me to make a difference and support those in need this holiday.

When I had heard about the Macy’s and Make a Wish foundation partnership, I had a brilliant idea. To me, the holiday’s symbolize coming together, whether family or friends, people should always come together to help others. Being a cheer coach at Kent Meridian and knowing my dad and the other cheer coaches at Tahoma, I devised a plan. All the cheerleaders at both schools wrote letters to Santa.

At first, it seemed so silly and childish, but they had a blast and for a brief second, all the problems in the world didn’t matter and everyone was a little kid again. Working together, the leaders from each team met at the Westfield Mall in Tuwila on Monday, December 19, 2011 to drop off their letters to Santa.

They may not have donated that much money (remember, one dollar for every letter) but every little bit helps. So what’s the point? The point is, two groups of people, very different and yet so very similar, worked together for a cause. They had never met and they all came together to help make a child’s wish come true this holiday season. If they can do it, you can do and all it takes is a little “spirit”.

If you are interested in being a little kid again and writing a letter to Santa, Macy’s will accept letters until December 24, 2011, and if you are interested in learning about all that the Make a Wish Foundation does, you can visit their website at www.wish.org.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a positive new year, and remember it doesn’t take much to come together and make a difference. And to the little girl who inspired this project, I hope you have the best holiday of all and that your mother returns home soon.

Erica Spalti is a Tahoma High graduate and former news intern for the Reporter.