Santa Will Reply to Letters from Children

By Susan Petroni

Every year, millions of children sit down to make a wish list for Santa, hoping he will make all of their Christmas dreams come true.

But what if Santa actually wrote back?

The United States Postal Service is now accepting “Letters From Santa,” a program that allows any person to play Santa by sending a letter signed by Saint Nick to any child.

According to a postal service news release, “The ‘ Letters From Santa’ program helps parents fulfill the dreams of their own children.”

The U.S, Post Office has been receiving letters from Santa for a very long time but in 1912 Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local Postmasters to allow postal employees and citizens to respond to the ever-growing number of letters received every holiday season.

This year, 2014, the Postal Service is celebrating the 102nd anniversary of the Letters to Santa program as it continues to fulfill the dreams of children nationwide.

Instructions to send a letter from Santa:

1. Write a letter to your child from Santa Claus and sign it “From Santa.” Put the letter in an envelope addressed to your child with the return address SANTA, NORTH POLE.
2. Ensure a First-Class Mail stamp is affixed to the envelope.
3. Place the envelope into a larger envelope, with appropriate postage, and address the larger envelope to:
   NORTH POLE POSTMARK
   POSTMASTER
   4141 POSTMARK DR
   ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998
4. Your letter “from Santa” will be mailed back to your child, postmarked from the North Pole.
5. “Letters From Santa” must be mailed to the Anchorage, AK postmaster by no later than Dec. 15. Santa’s helpers in Anchorage will take care of the rest.

Letters also can be dropped off at the Decatur post office at 520 W. Ponce De Leon Ave. or the Avondale Estates post office at 15 Franklin St.