It’s time to get those letters to Santa in the post. What a fun way you can engage the littles in your life by helping them write a letter to their favorite couple – Santa and Mrs. Claus. I even have a free printable letter you can download and use to pen your greeting.
First, thank you to our northern friends in Canada – the Canadian Post and their Giving Back to the Community Program. Sacks of letters are arriving at the North Pole, and the Canadian postal elves are helping Santa with his mail. If you want to hear back from Santa, you must get your letter in the mail by December 7 – this Thursday! Here’s how…
- I’ve made you a free printable here for your cheerful correspondence.
- Put your letter into an envelope, affix a stamp, and include a self-addressed envelope so Santa can write back. Santa’s elves pay the return postage, so it’s free.
- Mail your letter to: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
Here’s the super cool part – Santa answers letters from all ages in more than thirty languages, including braille, and responds to every country.
Can you imagine your child’s delight when a letter from Santa arrives airmail!
Feeling charitable this season? Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters sent from children and families to Santa arrive at United States Post Offices around the country. Most letters ask for toys and games. Some ask for necessities. Some ask for help for themselves and their loved ones.
The USPS Operation Santa allows individuals and organizations to adopt these letters and send responses and thoughtful gifts in Santa’s place.
The Postal Service — then the Post Office Department — began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than 100 years ago. In 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local Postmasters to allow postal employees and citizens to respond to the letters — a program that eventually became known as Operation Santa.
In the 1940s, the mail volume for Santa increased so much that the Postal Service invited charitable organizations and corporations to participate by providing written responses and small gifts.
Through the years, the program grew and took on a life of its own. Today, customers can go online to browse through the letters; if one touches them, they can adopt it and help the child have a magical holiday.
The mission of USPS Operation Santa is to provide a channel where people can give back and help children and families — enabling them to have a magical holiday when they otherwise might not — one letter to Santa at a time.
In many Postal Service facilities around the country, postal employees respond to the letters with a handwritten response signed by Santa, while other offices might purchase gifts for the children.
How to send letters to Santa:
- Santa’s mailing address should be placed in the middle of the envelope. Letters can be addressed simply to SANTA CLAUS, but we prefer his official Postal Service address:
- SANTA CLAUS
123 ELF ROAD
NORTH POLE 88888 - Write your full name and address in the upper left corner.
- Then, apply a first-class stamp in the upper right.
For letter writers: Letters requesting clothes and shoes should include sizes and colors. Letters requesting toys, games, and books should be specific.
These letters will populate the USPSOperationSanta.com website, which opens for letter adoption on Friday, Dec. 11.
For adopters: Customers are encouraged to go online and adopt a letter to help a child or family have a happy holiday when they otherwise might not.
Letters received before Dec. 18 will be uploaded and made available for adoption, though the sooner your letter is received, the more likely it is to be answered. More details for writing letters to the USPS Operation Santa program can be found on the USPSOperationSanta.com website.
I hope you can spend time with your littles this season to share these experiences with them. It’s a full curriculum – history, writing, reading, learning how to write a letter and address an envelope, learning how the post office works, and learning the spirit of philanthropy by giving back to the community they serve.
Happy Holidays!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
What a great program! Every year I struggle to provide for my 10-year-old adopted son & strive to give him the same type of happiness my other now adult children had. It’s getting harder each year as prices go up & he gets older & wants more expensive gifts. I give him all my love, support & time but want to always do more. He’s a good boy & I’m happy that we have each other. He’s always saving the last few sips of a drink someone may have bought him for me or that last cookie. He’s always thinking about me. He got my heart & I’m proud he’s my son. His name means gift & that’s why I chose it for him. He’s my gift & I’m his. Thank you for this letter from Santa. He will be so happy!
Aloha Cindy, Esai’s mom