‘Operation Santa’ in full swing

Letters to Santa have long been a tradition for children during this time of the year. The United States Postal Service has been accepting letters  for 109 years for the  USPS Operation Santa program. While the Chipley and Bonifay post offices report only about ten letters to Santa come in annually, there is no way to know how many in our local area are part of Operation Santa in its new form.

Holiday expectations can put extra pressure on families who want to make it a special time, but just can’t. That’s where the USPS Operation Santa program, and generous postal service customers, can help make the holidays a joyous and magical time. Since the program began, hundreds of thousands of less fortunate children and their families have been helped by the kindness of others.

Families can now send a wishlist to Santa and all you have to do is write a letter, put it in an envelope affixed 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. However, there is no guarantee that all the letters that are submitted will be adopted.

Those letters need to be postmarked by Dec.10 in order to be uploaded to the website for adoption by Dec.15. According to USPS the best way to better chances of being adopted is to be specific in what is being asked for on the wish list such as: sizes, colors, styles, favorite authors, book titles, toys, etc.

If you are worried about anonymity Santa’s Elves make sure that all personally identifiable information is removed before it is uploaded to  USPSOperationSanta.com for adoption. Tips for writing those letters can be found on the same website.

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. 

For those who may want to adopt a letter there are a few things you need  to know.

Potential adopters, once approved, can visit USPSOperationSanta.com, read through the posted letters  then pick one or more you’d  like to fulfill. Then just follow the directions on how to grant that special wish for a child. For security reasons, all potential adopters must be vetted through a short registration and ID verification process before being  allowed to adopt any letter. If you’ve adopted letters in the past, you must still be verified each year. If you are part of a company or team, groups are welcome to adopt letters too. 

Adopters can come from any location in the United States but will remain anonymous because after all, the gifts are from Santa. 

Letters for adoption need to be sent to the following address:

Santa Claus  – 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888