many now know pete fontana.s the seasonal staff and has been running operation santa for 15 years, and is retiring after the holiday. it's the letters that keep him focused. this one from an 8-year-old with an out of work dad and cold apartment. >> that's why i need socks, a jacket, pants, boots, pajamas. >> reporter: and one' he will never forget, a boy who lost his mother. >> dear santa, i just want you to give mommy and hug and kiss in heaven. >> reporter: every letter is read and all numbered and entered into a computer file. then the helpers go to work. new walk-ins or repeat helpers like leon and rose marie, choose which dear sap that wishes they can feel. >> i grew up poor. so i understand what it's like. >> reporter: or because like laura and her friends, they never wanted for anything in life and see operation santa as a way to give back. she used facebook to fill her apartment with gifts. >> it's not about a man in a red suit and white beard, it's about people looking beyond themselves this holiday sea

pete fontana, thanks a lot. i'm told by the staff that we have a link. cnn.com/kyra. ottom of the screen. pete, thanks for all you do. a lot of families are cutting back this holiday. 15 million americans jobless. unemployment rate just under 10%. for parents struggling, breaking the bad economic news to kids can be tough, especially right now around christmas time when a lot of other kids are getting presents. jeff gardier, clinical psychologist, jeff, if a parent is strapped for cash, the kids are maybe watching tv and seeing all of these and other children and santa is not going to be that generous this year. >> kids understand that things are not the way they once were. we see in the segment that you just did now, and avoid things with the parents. i think we've learned in the economy, the kids have learned what is going on. minus the fear, minus the anxiety, all of those emotional changes as parents were going through in this economy and i think when our kids start experiencing that anxiety. that's the red flag for us as parents to say, you know what, we better de