A 13-year-old boy received a pleasant surprise after he penned a letter to Santa Claus asking for "safety" this Christmas -- a response from the president of the United States.
Malik Bryant, from Chicago, decided to ask Santa Claus for something far more tangible and precious than a typical Christmas toy as part of a nonprofit organization's charitable Letters to Santa program, MSNBC reported. It didn't take long for the message to go viral on Twitter.
"All I ask for is for safety. I just want to be safe," his letter read, according to Direct Effect Charities' website.
In the letter, Bryant describes himself as a seventh grader with two siblings. Explaining that he lives in a high-crime neighborhood on the South Side called Englewood, the 13-year-old says, "all I ask for is for safety. I just wanna be safe."
Of the 8,000 letters that Direct Effect Charities receives from Chicago Public Schools students each year, CEO Michelle DiGiacomo happened to come across Bryant's in early December.
"When I saw that one, my heart leaped out of my chest," she said. "What are you going to give a child who asks for safety?"
After making some calls, the note reportedly made its way into the hands of Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), whose office then passed it along to Obama, The Hill reported.
"My staff and I thought, 'Let's see if we can get the White House to respond,'" Quigley told the Chicago NBC affiliate. "They are very busy at this time of year."
"I want to offer you a few words of encouragement," Obama, a former Windy City resident, wrote back, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "Each day, I strive to ensure communities like yours are safe places to dream, discover, and grow. Please know your security is a priority for me in everything I do as President," he wrote.
"If you dare to be bold and creative, work hard every day, and care for others, I'm confident you can achieve anything you imagine. I wish you and your family the very best for the coming year, and I will be rooting for you," Obama's note said.
Bryant expressed excitement upon receiving a letter from the president, but said he was aware that the note "isn't going to like solve the safety reasons out here."
"I'm surprised, like, he wrote it to me," he said. "I think it sent a message to everybody that it's not safe out here in Chicago. It's dangerous."
"I know it meant something to the president coming from Chicago and understanding that this young man, more than anything, wanted something for him and those around him -- he wanted safety," Quigley said.
Aside from Quigley, DiGiacomo also published the letter in the organization's December newsletter, where rock musician Spencer Tweedy, son of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, saw it and posted it on his Twitter account.
Soon, the note had received more than 5,800 retweets and more than 4,300 favorites.
Meanwhile, the Letters to Santa program also gifted Bryant with a Wii game and a new computer after his mother informed DiGiacomo that the 13-year-old needed things to entertain him indoors because "it's too dangerous" outside, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
