Operation Santa Claus is a yearly initiative undertaken by the United States Postal Service. It was started in 1912 when United States Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to start responding to needy children, with the first one starting at the James Farley Post Office.[1][2]
For years, the program has invited children to send letters to Santa Claus at 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888. Members of the public may volunteer to "adopt" these letters. Letter adopters reply to the children and may send them gifts.[3] While the adoption program used to operate out of selected post offices to which letters had been distributed and volunteers had to visit those post offices to receive the letters they were adopting,[4] since 2019, the adoption program has been carried out online.[5]
Operation Santa Claus program in Alaska
editThe Salvation Army in cooperation with the Alaska Air National Guard use C-130 Hercules to distribute every year gifts to children living in remote places in Alaska before Christmas.[6]
Dear Santa
editIn 2005 the initiative was featured on the Fox network reality TV special Dear Santa, where six children were chosen from the initiative to have their Christmas wishes granted. The special was hosted by Jim Belushi and featured appearances from celebrities that included Clay Aiken, Hilary Duff, Raven Symoné, and Tony Hawk.[7] A compilation CD was created to coincide with the show and was sold through the United States Postal Service.[8][9]
See also
edit- Operation Christmas Drop, annual U.S. airforce drop over Micronesia
References
edit- ^ "Operation Santa Claus At James Farley Post Office 2012 | Operation Santa Claus - Santa's Blog". 2012-12-12. Archived from the original on November 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
- ^ "Operation Santa FAQ's". Operationsanta.com/. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- ^ Miller, Susan. "'Don't forget about me': USPS' Operation Santa looking for donors to make magic this year". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
- ^ abc7NY. "Operation Santa Claus aims to help the needy | ABC7 New York | abc7ny.com". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ America, Good Morning. "USPS' 'Operation Santa' launches online to make holidays happy one for children, families in need". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
- ^ Operation Santa Claus program Archived 2015-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, The Salvation Army, Alaska Division
- ^ Hughes, Mike (December 9, 2005). "Tonight's Best Bets". The Courier-News – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Oldenburg, Ann (November 14, 2005). "Reality TV gears up for Christmas". The Daily Journal – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Guthrie, Marisa (November 21, 2005). "Fox plays Santa with new Christmas Special". Daily News – via Newspapers.com.