The 57th annual Boston Globe Santa Fund Drive gets underway today with its traditional mission to raise enough money to make sure thousands of children in needy families in some 158 eastern Massachusetts cities and towns will have gifts to open on Christmas morning.

Like last year, the drive is getting underway with the country still facing the problems from one of the most severe economic downturns in the nation’s history — a situation that continues to leave many parents unemployed and their families often without adequate housing.