You can help fulfill a child’s holiday wishes by signing up for Operation Santa, a program by the United States Postal Service.
The postal service is putting out a call for “kind-hearted,” generous people across the United States to sign up to adopt letters to Santa, the USPS said in a media release.
Those interested in adopting letters can go to USPSOperationSanta.com, create an account and have their identities verified to help fulfill the holiday wishes of children and families who have written to Santa.
According to the media release, USPS Operation Santa relies solely on random acts of kindness and the generosity of strangers. For 110 years, the program has provided some extra magic to those in need during the holiday season.
Registration is only for those wishing to adopt letters. Potential adopters must go to USPSOperationSanta.com, click on the registration link and follow the prompts. For security reasons, all prospective adopters must register to create an account and have their identities verified before they can participate. Even if someone adopted letters in the past, they must create a new account each year.
If a potential adopter is unable to have their identity verified online, they will be directed to get verified in person. The Postal Service will send the adopter a barcode and the location of the nearest Post Office location that can provide in-person ID verification. Once approved, the adopter will receive a welcome email with detailed information on how to participate in the program.
Beginning Nov. 28, verified adopters can visit USPSOperationSanta.com, read through the posted letters and choose one or more to fulfill. Once the letters are chosen, the adopters must follow the directions included in their welcome email to fulfill the holiday wishes.
Businesses and other organizations can also get into the spirit of the season by creating teams to adopt letters. Everyone participating on a team must also complete the verification process.
Letter adopters are responsible for all postage costs to ship the gift packages.
According to the USPS, hundreds of thousands of letters are written to Santa every year. These letters are opened by Santa’s elves and, for safety reasons, all personally identifiable information in the letter (such as last names, school names, addresses, ZIP Codes) is removed before the letters are uploaded to USPSOperationSanta.com for adoption.
Letters will be available for adoption from Nov. 28 through Dec. 19.
Santa’s helpers are available to answer questions at [email protected].
