NORTH POLE — At an event here to celebrate the new Holiday Elves stamps, with Santa, Mrs. Claus, reindeer and the Santa Claus House (on St. Nicholas Drive!) as the backdrop, the Postal Service announced that letters for the 110-year-old USPS Operation Santa program can be sent beginning today — six weeks earlier than previous years. The holiday season is here!

“USPS Operation Santa allows generous customers to grant the holiday wishes of children and families in need. The program is now accepting wish lists for this year’s program,” said Michael Elston, the Secretary of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, who served as the dedicating official for the stamp event. “We know this is earlier than usual, but we’re pretty excited to get the season started and we know kids around the country are eager to write to Santa, using these stamps on the envelopes.”

USPS Operation Santa provides an online channel where people can safely and securely help children and families have a magical holiday when they otherwise might not— one letter to Santa at a time. It allows individuals to adopt letters written to Santa and send thoughtful, heartfelt gifts anonymously. USPS Operation Santa is not a guaranteed gift-giving program. It relies solely on the generosity of strangers.

Last year, letters could be sent beginning Nov. 1, 2021. While thousands of letters had been received by the time the USPSOperationSanta.com website opened for letter adoption on Nov. 29, 2021, only 2,500 letters contained the information necessary to be posted. The 2,500 letters were all adopted within ten minutes of the site opening. The Postal Service is hoping more time to send letters equates to many more letters available to adopt on opening day, Nov. 28.

Letters need to include the letter writer’s first and last name and a complete return address. A complete return address includes street address, apartment number, if applicable, city, state and ZIP Code. The envelope must have a postage stamp on it to travel through the Postal Service processing systems. The envelope needs to be addressed to: SANTA CLAUS, 123 ELF ROAD, NORTH POLE 88888.

These letters travel to the Santa’s US satellite workshop where they are opened and reviewed, personal information is redacted and they are uploaded onto the website, anxiously awaiting adoption by generous people across the country.

For more information, visit USPSOperationSanta.com or usps.com/holidaynews.

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

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