I've been real busy lately because it's December and I work at the post office, so of course I am
But that doesn't mean I can't show up with an unprompted PSA
Hey! Have you ever mailed a letter to Santa Claus? Have you ever wondered what exactly happened to that letter? Well wonder no longer! If it had a stamp and a return address, then odds are that it ended up on the USPS's Operation Santa page!
Every year, the USPS collects letters to Santa Claus, and processes them to black out any identifying information. Last names, addresses, things like that. Then, the letters are posted on the Operation Santa webpage and people can adopt the letters.
Once you adopt a letter, you can buy gifts for them, wrap them up, and package them. Then you get a barcode from the website, and bring them to a post office. The clerk there will scan the barcode, which prints out a label with the address on it, and sends out the gift.
It's anonymous on both ends, and is generally just. A really nice thing to do.
I highly recommend it if you have some money to spare this year and want to give a kid a moment of magic this year
It's one of those things that the post office just happened to be positioned to do, and ended up knocking it out of the park. Unfortunately, I don't think they advertise this nearly well enough, and most letters end up going unanswered
Hopefully, a few more will be answered this year
Website Link: Operation Santa - USPS
I did this! You have to send them by next week I think, but they’ve also partnered up with ToysRus to have a small online store that ships directly to the family. The letters are only ones sent to a specific Santa address, meant for the operation Santa.
It took awhile to find a letter. Like some of the comments said there’s a lot of expensive stuff on there. But they’re kids. They just want what their friends have. They want to fit in. They’re writing a letter to Santa, who can gift them anything. I tried to cut them some slack for their wishlists.
The most heartbreaking one was a letter that said their house had just been foreclosed on and they had to move. They asked for beds, mattresses, and bedding for their two kids.
The letters can be from anyone. Kids, parents, even just adults without kids. I also appreciated that it wasn’t religious or military affiliated.
Great info - thank you!