Shipping Center in Naperville Encourages Community to Adopt Letters for Operation Santa

Naperville, IL — The United States Postal Service has been hosting the Operation Santa program for over 100 years, and this holiday season, a local shipping center in Naperville, IL is encouraging their community to spread some holiday cheer by participating in this annual program.

For years, kids have been sending letters to Santa Claus expressing their Christmas wishes. But what becomes of these letters once they're mailed off? As stated on the USPS website, "in 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock created Santa’s first mailroom—authorizing local postmasters to open up these letters for employees to read and respond." However, as years passed and more letters were sent than they could handle, the Operation Santa program was eventually launched so that more citizens, charities, and corporations could all participate.

The Operation Santa program is something that children can still participate in today. All they need to do is write a letter expressing what they want from Santa Claus for Christmas, then their parents put the child's name and full return address on the envelope with a First-Class Mail Forever stamp and mail it (remembering that it must be postmarked December 12th or before) to Santa's workshop address at 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.

First, the letters are sorted and scanned after being received. The personal information is then redacted before the letters are posted on the USPS Operation Santa website. Any individual or business can "adopt" the letter from there. Finally, adopters buy the gifts mentioned in the letters to Santa and ship them by December 19th via a participating USPS location. By Christmas, these gifts arrive at kids' homes labeled as if they're from Santa Claus himself. Any individuals who want to be a part of Operation Santa can sign up to adopt a letter beginning November 28th.

Operation Santa is a beloved tradition and The Boxes Etc. happily does its part by offering professional packing, greeting cards, gifts, and gift-wrapping in addition to their shipping services. To learn more about Operation Santa or any other services provided by The Boxes Etc., call (630) 717-1351 or visit their website at theboxesetc.com.