WATERLOO, Iowa — Last Christmas Oliver Palmer told his parents he felt as important as the president of the United States when hundreds of cards came to the family’s home wishing him a happy holiday.

Now, the family and their friends are hoping a similar outpouring will help lift the 10-year-old’s spirits once again. A Nov. 2 MRI showed the inoperable brain tumor Oliver was first diagnosed with on Dec. 23, 2009, had started growing again.

“He is aware that it is not long,” Ed Palmer, Oliver’s father said.

Stacy Palmer, Oliver’s mother, posted the call for cards on the family’s blog that same night. She said Oliver told her he had only touched one person’s life: a little boy he had given a McDonalds toy to.

“Ollie said it made him feel special inside because he was thinking of others. It made me so sad, though, to think that he really doesn’t feel like he he’s touched people’s lives,” she wrote.

Ed said they hope a final blast of cards, with short stories telling Oliver how he has touched their lives, will help “buoy him up during this time.”

A family friend is also hoping that some families will make a small fleece-tie blanket in kid’s prints and bright colors that Oliver and his family can deliver to children still in the hospital.

“He’s just not seeing that he has touched people’s lives and for him to get that outpouring … he goes to that next chapter full of faith and full of hope. For me, that is something I would love to see,” Ed said.

Cards and blankets can be sent to Oliver Palmer, 417 Oaklawn Ave., Waterloo, Iowa. 50701.