Fifty years, one letter at a time.

A letter that missed the North Pole.

In December 1976 a boy named Craig wrote a letter to Santa Claus. It never reached the North Pole. It reached Francisco’s, a restaurant in Seattle, and the letter immediately captured the heart of Dick Francisco. The Forgotten Children’s Fund was created that night to help others in similar situations.

That first Christmas reached 285 children in 81 families. Fifty Decembers later, thousands of volunteers wrap and deliver more than 22,000+ gifts a season, and nobody has ever drawn a paycheck.

Richard “Buck” Francisco

A Marine with a handshake like a vise and a heart bigger than both fists, Dick Francisco read Craig’s letter at his restaurant one December night and decided, on the spot, that Santa would never miss another house in Seattle. He spent the rest of his life keeping that promise.

The Fund’s summer home followed: Dick, Don Rall and other families had bought the M-Bar-C Ranch on Whidbey Island for their own kids, then repurposed it for the Fund, so the kids Santa visits in December ride horses in July. Dick passed away in 2016 at 92, and every doorbell rung at Christmas since rings in his honor.

Where it all started

A talk on how one lost letter to Santa became fifty years of Christmas mornings.

The first Christmas vs. the fiftieth

1976

One letter, one restaurant

Craig’s letter lands at Francisco’s. Dick Francisco and friends deliver that first Christmas to 285 children in 81 families.

1980s

The Santa corps takes shape

Routes push beyond King County. Volunteer Santas and elf crews become the heart of the operation, and the ranch owners begin serving children beyond Christmas.

1990s

M-Bar-C Ranch, year-round

The 60-acre Whidbey Island ranch becomes the Fund’s year-round program, hosting Days of Western Fun for children with special needs. Today it serves 2,500 children a year.

2000s

A warehouse becomes the North Pole

Each season a donated warehouse, up to 50,000 square feet, is transformed into the wrap center where thousands of volunteers work through December.

2017

The year Seattle found us a home

A hot real-estate market left the Fund without a warehouse. News coverage brought dozens of leads, and a building slated for demolition became that season’s North Pole.

2025

22,000+ gifts, 750 families

3,500+ volunteers wrap 22,000+ gifts and assemble hundreds of new bikes at the North Pole, reaching 2,100 children across eight Washington counties.

2026

The fiftieth Christmas

Fifty years after one letter went to the wrong address, Santa knocks again.

Fifty years of people who showed up.

Founders, decades-long Santas and elves, warehouse donors, and the volunteers who never missed a season. Send us the names that belong here.

“Teams of Santas and their elves brought gifts to children who might otherwise have nothing.” GoSkagit.com