SACRAMENTO, CA — The U.S. Postal Service’s “Letters to Santa” program is celebrating 102 years of helping make children’s holidays wishes come true. And the Sacramento Post Office is carrying on the tradition by serving as the official mailbox for Santa.

This year, the Sacramento Postal District “Santa Station” will be open the day after Thanksgiving at 2000 Royal Oaks Drive, Sacramento, CA  95813. The hours of operation will be:

Nov. 28 – Dec. 19

Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Customers and organizations wanting to “adopt” a letter and fulfill a wish must come to the participating Letters to Santa Post Office in person. Both individuals and organizations must fill out the proper forms and show identification before any letters can be viewed. Santa’s Helper will be on staff to assist those who want to volunteer.

This holiday season, employees, members of the public, charitable organizations and corporations are helping USPS respond to letters addressed to Santa that arrive at Post Offices around the country by participating in the Letters to Santa program. Thousands of volunteers and organizations work with Post Offices to respond to letters from children, not only to answer their letters but to also provide some basic necessities that children, and adults, often ask for themselves and family members. In many cases, children ask for food, clothing, shelter, and/or a missing parent.

Today, this popular holiday program is known nationwide as Letters to Santa. The exception is New York City, where the city’s own “Operation Santa,” the largest Letters to Santa program in the country, responds to more than 500,000 letters each year. 

Although USPS began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than 102 years ago, its involvement was made official in 1912 when Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized Post Office Department employees and citizens to respond to the letters.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm. A complete list of the holiday shipping deadlines can be found at usps.com/holidaynews.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf. Follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/usps), Instagram (instagram.com/uspostalservice), Pinterest (pinterest.com/uspsstamps), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/usps), subscribe to our channel on YouTube (youtube.com/usps), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/usps) and view our Postal Postsblog (uspsblog.com).

For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.