LOUISIANA — Times are hard, and the holidays can be stressful. Every day can be a struggle for some families simply trying to make ends meet. Everyone deserves to experience the magic of the holiday season. This is where the USPS Operation Santa program comes in.

USPS Operation Santa has been making wishes come true for 109 years. This year, letters have been streaming in since Nov. 1, but there is still time to get your wishes to the big guy this season.

Simply write a physical letter to Santa, put it in an envelope, include a complete return address — full name, street address, apartment number, city, state and ZIP Code — add a postage stamp and put it in the mail. Letters need to be postmarked by Dec. 10. These letters populate USPSOperationSanta.com.Envelopes without full names and complete return addresses will not be posted. Envelopes without postage stamps will not arrive at the location.

#Elves Exist
USPS Operation Santa was established by the Postal Service to help those in need during the holidays. Whether you believe in Santa or not, the nondenominational program is intended to help as many deserving families as possible experience a happy holiday season. And that can only happen if there are letters to post on USPSOperationSanta.com.

The letters arrive at Santa’s satellite workshop in the U.S., they are reviewed, all personal information is redacted to protect the writers, and the letters are posted for generous people to adopt. Letter adoption begins Monday, Nov. 29. Those interested in letter adoption must first create an account on the website and get their identities verified. Just follow the prompts. Letter writers do NOT need to create accounts. There is no guarantee a letter will be adopted, or a gift will be provided. This program relies solely on the generosity of strangers and random acts of kindness.

How to Write the Perfect Letter
Writing the personal letter just takes a little bit of time. Including specific information — sizes, styles and colors for clothes and shoes, titles of books and names of toys — makes it easier for the letter adopter to fulfill wishes.

All the information you need can be found at USPSOperationSanta.com and the Postal Service Holiday Newsroom.

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

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