The Letters to Santa mailbox is open at the Westfield Post Office, ready to deliver holiday wishes. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
GREATER WESTFIELD-Now in its 108th year, the USPS Operation Santa program connects children who have written letters to Santa with “adopters” who wish to reach out and make the holiday season a bit brighter for a child in need.
Letters from children began arriving around Thanksgiving and at the U.S. Postal Service on West Silver Street in Westfield, a special box in the entrance way has been designated for children to drop off their letters to Santa. All letters must have a first class stamp on them with a return address to be processed.
“Letters should be addressed to Santa Claus at 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888,” notes Amy Gibbs, strategic communications specialist for the U.S. Postal Service. Gibbs serves the areas including the Connecticut Valley, Western Massachusetts, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.
A special box for children to drop off letters to Santa Claus is located in the entrance way of the United States Postal Service office in Westfield. This graphic details the specifics for ensuring Santa receives the child’s letter in time for Christmas.
“Through Dec. 7, we had 388 letters from Massachusetts adopted and 179 from Connecticut,” said Gibbs, noting a substantial increase in letters adopted from 2019 to 2020.
“In 2019, there was a total of 12,761 letters adopted and currently, there are 16,193 letters that have been adopted for the 2020 season,” she said.
This year, the holiday season is going to be more challenging than usual for many, noted Gibbs.
“Fortunately, the USPS Operation Santa program – and its generous Postal Service customers – can still help make it a joyous celebration.”
Potential adopters can visit USPSOperationSanta.com, read through the letters, pick one or more wishes that they’d like to fulfill, and follow the directions on how to grant that special wish for a child.
For security reasons, potential adopters must be vetted by going through a short registration and ID verification process before they are allowed to adopt any letter.
Companies are also welcome to “get into the spirit of the season” and adopt letters, noted Gibbs.
“Every year many businesses create teams and adopt several letters,” said Gibbs, adding, “All the better to help grant that special wish to deserving families and kids.”
Letters will continue to be uploaded to the website through Dec. 15.
Gibbs said that all letters are opened by Santa’s elves, and for safety reasons, all personally identifiable information of the letter is removed and uploaded to USPSOperationSanta.com for adoption.
When the Postal Service began receiving letters to Santa more than 108 years ago, it wasn’t until 1912 that Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to allow postal employees and citizens to respond to them. This initiative became known as Operation Santa.
“Sending a letter to Santa is easy and the Postal Service has guides and tips to help kids write and send their best letters ever on the website,” said Gibbs.
