Girl writes heartfelt letter to Santa asking for a new kidney for her brother

“Kaitlyn” left a letter in a Lowe’s Santa Claus mailbox, asking for a new kidney for her brother. (Photo: Lowe’s)

A little Lowe’s shopper has a selfless request from Santa Claus this year: a new kidney for her brother.

Shelly Thomas, a manager at the Franklin, N.C., Lowe’s, found a heartwarming letter in the store’s Santa mailbox from a girl named Kaitlyn. The message, written in crayon, read: “Some may not believe in you. But I do. One thing I really want for Christmas is my big brother to get a kidney transplant. PLEASE.” The sender signed it, “Kaitlyn, FL,” which led Thomas to believe she was visiting North Carolina from Florida. According to Thomas, the area gets many visitors from Florida.

Besides that little identifying information, there was nothing else on the note that could help Santa, or anyone else, find Kaitlyn.

“Kaitlyn” isn’t looking for a toy like most other children — she just wants a vital organ for her older brother. (Photo: Lowe’s)

“It’s believed Kaitlyn wrote the letter on Friday or early Saturday morning,” Thomas said in a statement provided to Yahoo Lifestyle. The mailbox had last been emptied the morning of Friday, Nov. 23, and then again Saturday, which is when Kaitlyn’s request was discovered. “Associates enjoy reading the letters to see what toys children are requesting for Christmas. That’s when I found Kaitlyn’s note,” she said.

Every U.S. Lowe’s store has a mailbox for letters to Santa this year. Thomas estimates their store is currently receiving between 50 and 60 letters to Santa daily on weekends right now, but this one stood out from the crowd.

Kaitlyn isn’t looking for a toy like most other children — she just wants a vital organ for her older brother. “As a mom and a grandma, I teared up reading that letter,” Thomas said. “It shows what kids really think about. They think about others, it’s not just themselves.”

Thomas is determined to track down Kaitlyn.

“She wants to find the family to let them know people care and support them,” a representative from Lowe’s told Yahoo Lifestyle. “She also said if this raises awareness of the importance of organ donation that will be another positive.”

Thomas posted a photo of the note on Facebook, and it has been shared almost 800 times.

According to a representative from Lowe’s, Kaitlyn has not yet been identified as of Thursday afternoon.