Operation Santa is back: Sacramento, here’s how you can help spread cheer to kids in need
Nothing is more magical for children than writing to Santa and discovering that Saint Nick has fulfilled your wishes. It’s a thrill all children deserve — and this holiday season, you can help make it happen for kids in need.
On Monday, the U.S. Postal Service officially opened its annual Operation Santa program for letter adoption. Operation Santa is a program that began in 1912 that helps send gifts to children in need who have written letters to Santa. To spread holiday cheer, you can pick letters to “adopt” online and send presents to children. Here’s how it works:
How to adopt a letter
To adopt a letter, visit USPSOperationSanta.com and create an account. You’ll be asked to verify your identity for security reasons before you can participate. Even if you have adopted letters in the past, you must be re-verified each year. Once registered, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to participate.
You can also adopt letters as a team — for example, you can gather a group of co-workers. Each person on the team needs to verify his or her identity.
Then, you can read letters online. Pick a letter to adopt, and then pick out presents to buy based on the writer’s requests and ship them from participating Post Office locations. Letters are organized as both individual submissions and as submissions from families that contain letters from multiple children.
Sacramento-area Post Office locations participating in Operation Santa include:
▪ Fort Sutter, 1618 Alhambra Blvd.
▪ Broadway, 2121 Broadway
▪ Camellia, 4750 J St.
▪ Oak Park, 2929 35th St.
▪ Downtown Plaza 660 J St.
Letters can be adopted through Dec. 22 and packages can be shipped through Jan. 14.
Can kids still send letters to Santa?
Yes, the Postal Service will accept letters from children as long as they are postmarked by Dec. 10. To write a letter, the Postal Service recommends children include as much detail as possible regarding the size, shape, color and brand of the items on their wish lists.
It’s also important to include a return address, including a full name, street address, apartment numbers, city, state and ZIP code both within the letter itself and on the upper left corner of the envelope. Letters should be mailed using a first-class postage stamp to:
SANTA CLAUSE
123 ELF ROAD
NORTH POLE
88888
This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 8:58 AM.