Watch CBS News

Penguin Helps Kick Off Annual Letter To Santa Campaign At Macy's

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Make-A-Wish Foundation kicked off its seventh annual Believe campaign in the downtown Pittsburgh Macy's.

"It actually is one of my favorite campaigns of the year," said store manager Joe Hladiuk. "You get to put a smile on the kids' faces. It goes to a great cause, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and it goes to show what the true meaning of the holiday is."

And this year, there are some very special guests.

"I've never had a penguin walk through my store before," said Hladiuk. "This will be a first."

A Penguin from the National Aviary led a bunch of kids dressed in their black and white best to drop off their letters to Santa.

"Yes, I do like Christmas," said a boy named Ethan, who dropped off his letter to the big guy at the North Pole.

Ethan is still finalizing his wish, but it has something to do with a train. Meghan, who battled Leukemia as a child, received a swimming pool for her wish.

"I knew it was going to be there forever," she said. "It wasn't just going to be a quick couple of weeks. It was going to be there for the rest of my life and I still have it to this day and I enjoyed it this summer."

The notion of hope is not lost on those who make wishes come true. Macy's has given more than $1 million locally since 2006.

"Our children are fighting their illness and Make-A-Wish has a big part of that," said Dana Antkowiak with Make-A-Wish Foundation. "It helps give them help for the future and the strength to keep fighting."

"My pool was put in in October, so I had all of fall and winter to look at my pool and give me inspiration and hope to fight through this," said Meghan.

And through the efforts of little kids dreams, letters to Santa and help from Macy's.

"For every letter dropped off in the Believe mailbox, Macys will donate a dollar -- up to $1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation," said Hladiuk.

You May Also Be Interested In These Latest News Stories

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.