A new documentary takes a look inside the USPS’s Operation Santa program
Filmmaker Dana Nachman wanted to make a documentary about the United States Postal Service’s Operation Santa program for years, but it never seemed like the right time. Then in 2018 she got up some courage and decided to cold email the USPS press office.
They responded immediately and agreed to give her and a film crew unprecedented access to the inner workings of this charitable program. But there was one big rule: Don’t ruin Christmas for kids.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa go through the USPS system, asking for everything from toys to food. The program, which has been running in some form for more than 107 years, takes letters from kids in need, matches them up with donors and helps make Christmas wishes come true.
“Dear Santa,” out Dec. 4 from IFC Films, takes viewers inside the program showing the kids writing the letters, the postal workers who sort and categorize them [Santa’s helpers] and the adoptees who go out and purchase the gifts they ask for.
“I think a lot of people
don’t know it exists,” Nachman said. “I didn’t!”
She and her team began filming last year and had only the couple of weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to shoot. They had a couple of parameters: She wanted a diversity of locations (cosmopolitan, rural and everything in between) and to focus on what the postal service calls “special
requests,” which could be anything from heat to a medical procedure. In other words, they’re wishes that don’t necessarily fit in a box.
“I wasn’t so much interested in the kids asking for toys and iPhones and, believe me, there are a lot,” Nachman said. “We could have done an entire film on people who just wanted food or mattresses.”
She hopes the film will both help spread the word about the program and inspire people to adopt a letter.
Those writing letters to Santa, located at 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888, should get started too: They need to be postmarked by Dec. 14, but the sooner the better. And don’t forget a return address and a stamp.