CHICAGO, IL — The Postal Service and its employees play important roles in communities around the nation. It makes perfect sense for Postal Service employees to want to help their fellow citizens, especially around the holiday season.

What We Do
The Postal Service has programs in operation around the country that vary as much as the locations themselves. Some cities and towns work with their local schools to write letters back to the children as if they were Santa; some work with the established groups and assist with the collection of gifts; and others invite the public to adopt Santa letters to help children and families.

Operation Santa
Chicago’s “Operation Santa” program is one of the largest in the country. They kick their program off the first week of December every year and have thousands of people come in person to adopt letters.  Operation Santa is an annual letter-writing program through which members of the public respond to children’s letters addressed to Santa Claus, the North Pole and other seasonal characters.  It’s become a holiday tradition for many families, businesses and groups, as they share the spirit of the season to help make some holiday wishes come true for others especially the less fortunate.

In 2009, the Postal Service changed the letter adoption process by blacking out all reference to the child’s address and assigning the letter an alphabet and number in order to protect the privacy of the families and their children.  Individuals interested in adopting letters, go to the Post Office, select the letter(s) and sign the form. When the individual is ready to mail something to the child, they return with the letter and present what they are mailing and the letter to the Postal Service employee. The Postal Service employee will match the alphabet and number on the letter with the child’s address and weigh the package. The individual will pay for postage, and a mailing label will be printed and the postage will be applied to the package. 

Holiday 2017
This year’s program will kick off on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 10:00 a.m. at the Cardiss Collins Facility at 433 W. Harrison St.  Letters will be available from 7:30 to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sundays from 10:00 until 5:30 p.m. through Tuesday, Dec. 19th.

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