YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS
HE'S AT 33RD AND 8TH IN NEW YORK CITY
by Jason Zasky

At a place as ordinary as the post office, something extraordinary is happening. There are people, elves really, shuffling through mounds of letters. Separated in boxes by language, city and state, all the letters have one thing in common—they’re addressed to "Santa Claus, North Pole." And the goal of Santa’s little helpers? To see that each and every request is answered by December 24th. No small feat considering that Santa receives a lot of mail—282,000 pieces this year.

letter from Stephen, age 6

"Operation Santa Claus," as it’s referred to by Manhattan’s general post office, began more than 70 years ago when a handful of postal clerks rescued a few "Dear Santa" letters destined for the dead letter office. The wish lists were for food and clothing—appeals that reflected the hardship of the Depression. The clerks pooled their resources to fulfill the requests, and they’ve been doing it ever since.

These days, Operation Santa is organized by the post office but driven by volunteers, who descend on the James A. Farley Building on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, where all of Santa’s mail is forwarded. After postal workers open and sort the envelopes, the public is invited to read the messages and answer the letters. People from all walks of life take part, and many parents bring their own children to show them that giving is as much a part of Christmas as receiving. Folks who are unable to physically go to the Farley Building call in and have notes sent to them.

Most of the letters come from the New York metropolitan area, but all states are represented, and there are a surprising number of appeals from adults. The children’s requests range from predictable, i.e. a Sony PlayStation 2, to the heartbreaking—"Please send food, because if you don’t have food then you’ll die and I don’t want to die." The letters from adults generally describe a family’s financial hardship—often brought on by an unexpected death or disease—and request assistance "so my kids will have a nice holiday."

According to Pat McGovern, Communications Program Specialist for the Post Office, there are two aspects to the operation. "There’s the one part where we take the letters to Santa and make them available to the public to answer, and we also get cash donations, and with the money we host a party for children from low-income area schools. We get volunteer entertainment to come and we buy each child a hat, gloves, scarf and a toy," she says.

For those wondering if Operation Santa Claus distracts the post office from delivering the holiday mail, have no fear. "We try to take people who can’t work their normal job, like someone who twisted their ankle on their route, and we use those people in this capacity," says McGovern. "This is our busiest season and we need the strong and healthy out there delivering mail."

Due to the volume of letters received, only a small percentage are answered. So where do the unanswered requests go? "I hope no kids are reading this," says McGovern, "but they are forwarded to the dead letter office in Minneapolis. If this program did not exist, that’s where they’d be going in the first place."

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