By Mark Saunders
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and the U.S. Postal Service can help you prove it when Santa replies to your child’s letter — complete with a North Pole postmark.
Here are the steps for your child to get a letter back from Santa:
Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.
Affix a First-Class Mail stamp, such as a new Christmas Carols Forever stamp to the envelope.
Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope — preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope — with appropriate postage and address it to:
North Pole Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.
Letters from Santa must be received by the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than December 15. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.
Be sure to share the experience on social media using #LettersFromSanta.
Tips:
To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote.
When responding as Santa, make the response as personal as possible by highlighting your child’s accomplishments over the past year, for example, helping around the house, receiving good grades in a particular subject at school or participating in community service activities.
This is a great activity to do at Thanksgiving that the whole family can enjoy, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other caregivers.
The Letters from Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is ideal for interesting youngsters in letter writing, stamps and penmanship.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
