'Letters to Santa' Couple Reaches More Families This Year

(CBS) -- They will break your heart: the  letters to Santa Claus collected every year by the post office.

One local couple takes a stack of letters and plays Santa throughout the city. This year, that effort was made even better with the help of CBS 2 viewers.

In their rented van, Matt Beresh and Jennifer Jones near the end of their extraordinary mission. They make more than 50 stops in an effort to make Christmas great for hundreds of Chicagoans who have had a tough year.

CBS 2 was with this couple three weeks ago as they combed through letters to Santa at the main post office.

"I would like for you to bring my siblings warm clothes," Beresh reads from one letter.

For more than a decade, they've collected donations from friends and co-workers to answer these Christmas wishes.

But this year, right after their story aired on CBS 2, the response from viewers was overwhelming.

More letters, more happiness.

At one South Side home Monday, Matt and Jennifer dropped off gifts for a mother and her three children. The little girl there called it a "Christmas Miracle."

Jones says it's these moments that make all the hard work worth it.

"It makes me feel so good to be able to make them feel that way, and I wish I could do it year-round," Jones said.

We're sure you'd agree they have done a lot already. For more information, visit their website.