USPS now accepting letters for 2021 Operation Santa Program
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The US Postal Service announced it is now accepting letters for its 109-year-old program "Operation Santa" which helps families in need get help purchasing presents for their kids each year.
Everyday can be a challenge for families who are just trying to make ends meet, and holiday expectations can put extra pressure on those families when they only want to make it a special time for their children.
That's where the USPS Operation Santa program comes in. Since its start, the program has helped hundreds of thousands of less-fortunate children and their families receive presents from others during the holidays.
"Whether you believe in Santa or not, the nondenominational program is intended to help as many deserving families as possible experience a happy holiday season," USPS said.
This can only happen if there are letters posted on their Operation Santa website.
In order to participate, simply write a wish list to Santa, put it in an envelope with a First-Class Mail Forever stamp and make sure you include your full return address (apartment number, directional information and ZIP Code) and send it to Santa's official workshop address:
Santa Claus
123 Elf Road
North Pole, 88888
USPS said letters for Operation Santa must be postmarked by Dec. 10 in order to be added to the Operation Santa website.
Letters without full return addresses or names will not be posted for adoption.
Once your letter is received, it will be opened by Santa’s elves, and for safety reasons, all personally identifiable information of the letter writer will be removed (i.e., last name, address, ZIP Code) and uploaded to www.USPSOperationSanta.com for adoption.
The contents of each wish list are totally up to the writer, however, USPS said the more specific writers are with sizes, colors, styles, favorite authors, book titles, toys, etc., the better chance their wishes have of being granted if their letter is adopted.
Letters will be uploaded to the website for adoption through Dec. 15.
If you are interested in adopting a letter to Santa, you must be approved and vetted through a short registration and ID verification process. You can then comb through the posted letters on USPSOperationSanta.com, pick one or more that you'd like to fulfill and follow the directions on how to grant that special wish for a child.
If you have adopted letters in the past, you must still be verified each year for security reasons.
Businesses can also get into the spirit of the season by creating teams to adopt letters.
The complete Operation Santa history can be found online at the Postal Service Holiday Newsroom.
