Thanks to the U.S. Postal Service, you can be Santa – here’s how

  • Be a part of Operation Santa — respond to a child who wrote a letter addressed to the North Pole. Here's how. GRAPHIC/USPS
    Be a part of Operation Santa — respond to a child who wrote a letter addressed to the North Pole. Here's how. GRAPHIC/USPS

    Are you interested in sending children and families some holiday magic this year? You can—adopt a letter written to Santa by going to USPSOperationSanta.com.

    USPS Operation Santa turns 111 years old this year. The program relies solely on random acts of kindness and the generosity of strangers. It allows people to help children and families have a magical holiday when they otherwise might not — safely and securely. (Operation Santa is not a guaranteed gift-giving program.)

    Starting in the fall, the Postal Service has received letters from across the country and has been delivering them to Santa’s U.S. workshop at 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888. Letters sent with First-Class Mail postage and complete, accurate and legible return addresses have been opened, reviewed and posted on USPSOperationSanta. com. People can now begin reading and adopting letters. Here’s a few short instructions to get started: Visit USPSOperation Santa.com, register and have your identity verified. (If potential adopters are unable to complete their ID verification online, they will be provided with a code and given instructions on how to complete verification in person at a local Post Office.) Once verified, the adopter will receive a welcome email with detailed information on how to participate in the program.

    Potential adopters can read letters and choose one or more to fulfill. Once a letter is chosen, adopters must follow the directions they were sent in their welcome email to ship gifts. Packages must be shipped via Priority Mail service, but gifts do not need to be in Priority Mail-branded boxes.

    Letter adopters are responsible for postage fees to ship the gift packages. Postage to ship packages is based on size, weight and distance. To lower costs, Use Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes, free at your local Post Office. Take a box with you when shopping and only purchase items that can fit in the box. Pay careful attention to the dimensions of the gift — especially the size and weight. Shipping heavy, oversized packages can be expensive.

    Adopt a letter from your state or a nearby state, or consider a gift card instead of purchasing larger, heavier items. Gift cards need to be sent in a Priority Mail envelope, 4 inches by 6 inches or larger, to accommodate the shipping label.

    Letters have until Dec. 11 to arrive, and “Santa’s helpers” have until Dec. 18 to adopt letters and is the recommended date to ship packages.