SAN FRANCISCO — The Postal Service’s “Letters to Santa” program is celebrating 100 years of helping make children’s holiday wishes come true, and on Sunday, Nov. 18, that tradition continues as the San Francisco Postal District kicks off this year’s Letters to Santa Program at PIER 39.

The Postal Service is once again teaming with PIER 39 as it joins in the festivities for the PIER 39 Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration, which takes place from noon to 6:30 p.m. A special area is being set up for children who will have the opportunity to write letters to Santa from noon to 5 p.m. Children will be assisted by a team of Postal elves, and will also be able to decorate their special letters before mailing. Visit pier39.com for details.

The Postal Service began receiving letters addressed to Santa Claus more than 100 years ago. It wasn’t until 1912 that Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to allow individuals and institutions to use letters addressed to Santa Claus for philanthropic purposes. Employees and citizens in New York City began responding to the letters through a program that came to be known locally as “Operation Santa.” Today, the popular nationwide program is known as “Letters to Santa.”

“Every year thousands of postal employees, charitable organizations, corporations and individuals participate in making children’s holiday wishes come true by answering the letters to Santa that the Postal Service receives and makes available to the public,” said San Francisco Postmaster Raj Sanghera.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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