How To Write A Letter To Santa—Or Fulfill A Wish—In SJC: USPS Operation Santa

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA —Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and San Juan Capistrano residents can help him make a child's Christmas wish come true.

With costs of food, gas and other necessities rising across the United States, the holidays could be particularly bleak for some U.S. families. Many children could wake up on Christmas morning to find Santa missed their homes altogether.

The U.S. Post Office has seen the need and is offering a way to help Santa. With the postal service still delivering Santa Claus his mail, it was only natural to share with the community to see who can help fill the nice list requests.

This year, the U.S. Postal Service is hoping Orange County residents will step up to help with Operation Santa, and make the holidays a little merrier and brighter for families who may be experiencing financial hardship.

The Operation Santa program, which dates back to 1912, encourages kids from across the country to write letters to “Santa.”

This is the second year they are reaching out to families and groups who wish to help Santa fill the wish lists.

Once the letters are received and posted online, others are encouraged to “adopt” and respond to one or more letters of their choosing. As of Friday, over 11,400 letters have been adopted. Of those, over 1,450 are in California.

Adopting a letter typically means fulfilling one or numerous requests on the child’s wish list.

Anyone in the United States is allowed to write a letter, regardless of religion or denomination, according to the Postal Service’s website. Letters requesting clothes and shoes should include sizes and colors.

Those requesting toys, games and books should be specific.

Santa Needs Mail: How To Mail A Letter

In early December, only a handful of Christmas wish letters were posted. The USPS expects to add to this list on a regular basis, but Santa still needs his mail!

1) Any family with a child who wants to write to Santa should use this “official” post office address:

• Santa Claus, 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888

2) Write your full name and return address in the upper left corner of the envelope. Then, apply a first-class stamp in the upper right.

3) Letters will be posted to the USPSOperationSanta.com website. Letter adoptions opened on Nov. 29 and will continue through Dec. 22.

4) Drop the letter off at your nearest Orange County post office location.

5) All letters must be postmarked by Dec. 10.

Once letters are received, they will be posted online through Dec. 15 and will be available for adoption through Dec. 22.

The sooner your letter is received, the more likely it is to be answered, the USPS advises.

More details on writing and adopting letters through the Operation Santa program can be found at USPSOperationSanta.com.

As the letter to a young Virginia O'Hanlon from the New York Sun editor Francis Pharcellus Church concludes:

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.