Melissa Stinsman works as a postal carrier in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Each holiday season, she enjoys the process of helping to sort through all of Santa’s mail. She likes to make sure that the children of her community get their letters safely to the North Pole.
This past holiday season, Melissa was sorting through Santa’s mail like usual when one particular letter — a scribbled list written by a little boy — caught her eye.
“I’m going to star the most important things,” the little boy wrote.
The items with a star next to them? Food and clothes for his family.
Melissa quickly realized this child’s family simply wanted to be fed and kept warm. She couldn’t help but feel the calling to help… and ended up with way more surprises for the family than she bargained for.
Without a return address, it was up to her to track down the boy’s home, which happened to be on her co-worker’s daily route.
Melissa eventually found herself standing on the boy’s front door. His mother answered it, surprised by her unexpected visitor.
Within minutes, the pair of strangers were huddled together, crying in the rain.
Footage provided by WNEP Scranton