Issue date: 12/13/07 Section: Scene

Media Credit: beanelf.org Hans Dohm presents "Santa's" gifts to a family on Christmas Eve 2004.

Ever wonder where letters to Santa end up?

In the movie "Miracle on 34th Street," U.S. postal workers dumped thousands of them in a courtroom to help an old man prove he was the real Kris Kringle.

Post offices have another way of dealing with the letters they receive.

The Operation Santa program offers philanthropists and do-gooders a chance to play Santa.

Pete Nowacki, spokesman for post offices in the Twin Cities, explained how the program works. He said people can stop by a participating post office to pick up a letter some child has written to Santa. He added they must show a photo ID and fill out a form before they are given a letter.

"We keep their information on file for a year," he said.

In the past, there was not as much regulation because Nowacki said the post office would usually turn over letters from children expressing need to an organization such as United Way.

Once organizations or private donors have the letters, he said, it is up to them to respond and get the gifts to the family by Christmas.

But not all post office branches participate, he said.

"It's a local decision," he said, adding that both Minneapolis and St. Paul are participating in the program.

Freshman Kayla Rondone said she used to write letters to Santa but never really thought about what happened to them after they were mailed.

"I have no idea what really happened to the letter," she said. "I bet my parents just threw it out."

Rondone said she has never heard of the Operation Santa program before.

Kim Leith, manager of customer services for the Eau Claire Post Office, 1420 N. Hastings Way, said Eau Claire is participating in the program as well.

Volunteers usually take on the task of answering the letters they receive, she said, and the number of letters they get varies.

"It ranges anywhere from 30 to 50," she said, adding the letters are usually addressed to the North Pole.

Leith said one such volunteer is Kim Strzok-Scheidegger, who said he and his wife have been doing this for about five or six years.

"Whenever it says Santa I get them," Strzok-Scheidegger said. In a typical year he usually answers 25 to 30 letters.

He said the ones that are the most touching are the letters from children asking for presents for their families, rather than themselves.

"Those are the letters that mean more to me," he said. "The ones that have that type of giving spirit."

Some of the letters can be hard to read because of the writing, Strzok-Scheidegger said. But sometimes the children include drawings of reindeer and Santa.

Nowacki said although the vast majority of Santa letters are unidentifiable, he has received some interesting ones.

"You do get the heartbreaking letters too," he said, describing one letter he got from a mom who was just asking for winter clothes for her children.

He receives some funny letters as well.

"I opened a letter … asking for Joe Mauer for Christmas," he said.

The post office doesn't advertise the program so it is not very well known. One person who is trying to change that is Patrick Reynolds, founder and executive director of BeAnElf.org.

Reynolds said he heard about a man named Hans Dohm who was answering letters children wrote to Santa.

"I was very moved," he said.

Reynolds took it upon himself to work with others to create a Web site to inform people of the Operation Santa program and let them know how to get involved.

"We learned that it could be difficult in some cities to find the post offices that offer the program," he said. "We outlined a roadmap on how to find the post offices in the area."

Reynolds said the program has been around since 1912.

"(The post office) doesn't advertise it. They just rely on word of mouth."

Reynolds said he wants to create a national directory showing what branches offer the program so more people can participate.

"The mission is to make a needy child smile on Christmas," he said.

He said the program also brings out "the Christmas spirit" in people.

"Microphilanthropy is what this really is," he said.

For more information on the Operation Santa program or to "become an elf" contact your local post office to find a participating nearby location.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools