USPS seeks keiki wish list letters for Operation Santa

The U.S. Postal Service’s Operation Santa is seeking keiki wish list letters that anonymous donors can “adopt” and purchase gifts for this Christmas.

Letters are already being accepted, and starting Monday, donors will be able to go online and “adopt” letters submitted by children.

Due to the skyrocketing prices of toys, clothing and other goods, many Hawaii families may struggle to fulfill their children’s holiday wishes this year, USPS said in a news release Wednesday.

In 2021, more than 21,000 Santa letters submitted to the program were adopted nationwide, including 131 from Hawaii.

Children participating in the program as a potential gift recipient should write a letter to Santa, put it in an envelope with a first-class mail “forever stamp,” include their complete return address and send it to the USPS Operation Santa workshop address at: Santa Claus, 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.

Letters must be postmarked by Dec. 12 and will be uploaded to the Operation Santa website through Dec. 19 for potential adoption.

A good letter to Santa should be legible, include a full return address on both the letter and the envelope and be specific in requesting gifts, including sizes, styles, colors, titles and names.

For safety reasons, all personally identifiable information of the letter writer is removed, such as last name, address and zip code before it is uploaded.

There is no guarantee that letters submitted to the program will be adopted, according to USPS.

Since its beginning in 1912, the USPS Operation Santa program has helped to connect millions of children and their families with generous adopters. In recent years, the program transitioned from a hard-copy program hosted by certain Post Offices to a digital program that allows customers to access Santa letters at the USPS Operation Santa web site.

For more information on the program and how to adopt a Santa letter, visit USPSOpera tionSanta.com. Letters can be filtered by state.