These Christmas wishes from kids in need will break your heart

Not every child wants toys from Santa.

While parents often break their backs to ensure their kids get what they want on Christmas morning, these notes from deprived children are a reminder that what kids really need is to feel included. Things of My Very Own, an organisation that looks after children who have been abused or neglected, has shared the Christmas wishes of some of the children they help and they're heart-breaking. One 10-year-old boy asked for snacks for school, while an 11-year-old girl wanted blankets and a coat. The group, based in Schenectady in New York, was founded by Rayn Boncie, a former foster home child.

"When I was 14 years-old I was placed in the foster care system. A few months later, another foster child arrived," she wrote on the Love What Matters Facebook page. "She was also 14 and came in wearing clothing that would have fit a small nine-year-old. I remember seeing her change for bed and noticed reddish-purplish welts on her skin. Her clothing had literally injured her. "I made a silent promise to her that day, that when I grew up, I would do something to help children like her and me."

Rayn got some of the children the organisation helps to write their Christmas wishes on tags in the hopes that local businesses would sponsor the tags. She has already had some success in attracting support. "If we can show them for one moment that someone put their needs ahead of their own, maybe they will finally believe that what they have endured does not need to define who they grow up to be."