In the past, letters postmarked to Santa Claus at the North Pole were intercepted by postal workers in an initiative called “Operation Santa,” where USPS employees, volunteers, members of the public, charity workers, and others “adopt” letters and respond to them—always with a sign off from St. Nick. But it’s a big job, and sometimes it’s easy for a letter to get lost in the shuffle or for the demand to be too great for each letter to get a timely response. Especially during holiday seasons like last year’s, where an influx of letters were sent in from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That’s why we’ve outlined a few options for making sure your child’s letter from Santa arrives to them, whether you’re the one behind the ink or not. Option 1: Use the USPS Postmark Program While Operation Santa might be the best option for kids and families who are facing difficult situations or who don’t have the resources to otherwise get a letter to and from Santa, it’s not the best decision to inundate the massive call for volunteers further if you can help it. That gives children and families in need a better chance to get the magic that they need delivered. However, if you want to support the USPS, they have another program that allows you to have your child’s letter to Santa and Santa’s response postmarked at the North Pole. The caveat? You have to help Santa out by writing the letter yourself. The process looks like this: To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote. 3 Insert both letters into an envelope, and address it to the child. North Pole Postmark Postmaster 4141 Postmark Dr Anchorage, AK 99530-9998 Option 2: Write a Secret Letter and Hide It In Your Mailbox for Your Child to Find If you don’t want to go through the hassle of all those steps, then just writing your own version of a letter from Santa and making it special on your own. This can mean having a co-worker or friend with lovely handwriting transcribe your letter on a North Pole-themed piece of stationary, rolling it up and tying it in a ribbon, and sticking it in the mailbox—saying that you thought you just heard sleigh bells and someone must’ve dropped something off. But it doesn’t have to be a handwritten letter. Maybe finding a typewriter to use is more your style. Or maybe even just using a new font in Word and printing your letter out at work. Whatever you do, make sure you specifically address your child and compliment the good things they have accomplished this year and their good behavior. Option 3: Use a Santa Letter-Writing Service Sealed by Santa, (yes, the one you might’ve seen on Shark Tank) is a service that allows you to order a package full of goodies from Santa so your kids can have direct communication with the Big Guy. Different packages include different things, but you have the options of choosing a personalized letter from Santa, a north pole exclusive envelope, Rudolph reindeer food, a Santa top secret ornament with a video message, a phone call from Santa, and a north pole sticker sheet. This is the perfect solution for any parents who have the problem of time versus money.
