Year One student shocks teacher with heartbreaking letter to Santa

A seven-year-old girl’s heartbreaking Christmas wish list has prompted her school to start a donation drive for pupils in need.

Ruth Espiricueta, a Year One teacher in Edinburgh, Texas, had her class write letters to Santa asking for one thing they want, and one thing they need.

The task was designed to help the children understand the difference between the two, but it quickly revealed many of them were facing an unhappy Christmas.

As Espiricueta read the letters after class, one student’s letter particularly stood out to her.

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A number of her peers had also asked for basic necessities like food, blankets and clothing instead of toys.

"Some of my students were not even excited about Christmas because they know that their parents can not afford to buy a Christmas tree or gifts for them,” Espiricueta told ABC News.

Saddened by the hardships her young students were facing, she posted the girl's letter on Facebook last week.

“As a teacher it breaks my heart when I hear them ask for things that we sometimes take for granted,” Espiricueta wrote. 

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“Hopefully I will be able to fulfill at least one of their Christmas wishes.”

The photo has since been shared hundreds of times, and inspired the elementary school’s principal to establish a donation drive to collect 720 blankets for students in need.

According to ABC News, 616 have been donated so far.