Linda Matchan

Boston

Feature Writer at The Boston Globe

Feature writer for the Boston Globe

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Articles

The time I gave my daughter a make-believe pony - The Boston Globe

Mar 6, 2025 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

Her name was Flower the Pony. She joined our family nearly 30 years ago on a harried weekday morning while I was making my 6-year-old daughter’s school lunch. By request, it was the same lunch every day: Peanut butter sandwich. Cookies. Apple. It was a simple but tedious routine — until the day Flower unaccountably galloped into my mind. I decided I would write and illustrate one page of a story each day and put it in Sara’s lunchbox. Like a serialized novella, but for a kid who loved bedtime stories.
Globe Santa is comin’ to town

Dec 8, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

MEDFORD — Sunday was a big day for Globe Santa. He normally keeps a low profile, serving as the quiet symbol of the Boston Globe Foundation’s 69-year-old program that raises money to buy toys and books for children in need. But once in a while he’ll venture out in public, and when he does, it will often be to Medford.
When children hear holiday presents aren't for them

Dec 6, 2024 | boston.com | Linda Matchan

Community 'Tis the unequal holiday season. When parents or guardians write to Globe Santa requesting holiday gifts for their children, it's not necessarily about getting them stuff. About acquisition. It's about finding a way for their kids to feel normal, special, and appreciated, like other kids they know. "All I want is for my child to not be left behind or feel left out," writes a mother who's been a student at a community college for the past year.
When children hear holiday presents aren’t for them

Dec 3, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

When parents or guardians write to Globe Santa requesting holiday gifts for their children, it’s not necessarily about getting them stuff. About acquisition. It’s about finding a way for their kids to feel normal, special, and appreciated, like other kids they know. “All I want is for my child to not be left behind or feel left out,” writes a mother who’s been a student at a community college for the past year.
'It was like the end of the world'

Dec 3, 2024 | boston.com | Linda Matchan

Community A family loses everything they owned in a horrific house fire. One hour. That's all it took for the fire to wipe out everything they owned: Clothing. Furniture. Mementos. Passports. Toys. Even the family's pet hamster. "On April 28, the apartment building where we lived [in Randolph] burned to the ground," the mother of three writes to Globe Santa. "It doesn't exist anymore, and everything we had perished."The family was already in financial distress, relying on SNAP benefits to eat.
‘It was like the end of the world’ - The Boston Globe

Nov 30, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

The Boston GlobeOne hour. That’s all it took for the fire to wipe out everything they owned: Clothing. Furniture. Mementos. Passports. Toys. Even the family’s pet hamster. “On April 28, the apartment building where we lived [in Randolph] burned to the ground,” the mother of three writes to Globe Santa. “It doesn’t exist anymore, and everything we had perished.”The family was already in financial distress, relying on SNAP benefits to eat.
‘Blessings come in different forms’

Nov 27, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

Globe Santa is not just for the children. It’s for those who take care of those children, and care about them. And also those who suffer along with them when facing the prospect of a joyless holiday – like the Boston woman who told Globe Santa she had to throw all her children’s toys in the trash because of the mold and roaches in the homeless shelter where they’d been living. “We did not want to risk bringing a lot of the belongings into our new home,” she writes.
Inflation weighs on families' minds during holiday season.

Nov 21, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

The Boston GlobeThe mother’s financial needs were so great that in her October letter requesting holiday toys for her kids, she enclosed her most recent gas bill. The account was $1,800 past due. It was not winter yet. Many of the families who turn to Globe Santa tell us they are financially stretched to the breaking point. There are many reasons for this: They may have lost their homes, their jobs, or a parent.
A woman with cancer needed a miracle from a stranger. A veteran in pain needed one, too. - The Boston Globe

Nov 10, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

But in the winter of 2017, something felt off. Betsy was tired all the time, and one day she couldn’t finish clearing the snow in her yard. A few months later, after she couldn’t even finish mowing her tiny lawn, she called her doctor, who examined her and ordered blood tests. A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Struggling veterans ask Globe Santa to help them - The Boston Globe

Nov 9, 2024 | bostonglobe.com | Linda Matchan

This mother’s letter starts out like many that Globe Santa receives, seeking help with gifts for their children. “Dear Globe Santa: We could really use help this year for a few reasons.”It’s these “few reasons” that sets this letter apart from most. They stem from the fact that her husband is a disabled Army veteran and they can hardly survive on his veterans’ disability pay. It barely covers the necessities of life, let alone holiday gifts for their two children, ages 6 and 9.