OPERATION SANTA LANDS AT CHICAGO’S MAIN POST OFFICE
Carolina Espinoza plays Santa every year. She and her sister Estefania go to the post office and pick several of the letters that arrive, every year, addressed to Santa Claus. They buy what the writer of each letter wants, wrap it up, and mail it back.
“We started doing this about four or five years ago,” Carolina Espinoza said. “Now we try to get even more people involved.”
Letters to Santa have been arriving at post offices for more than a century, and for several decades, the Postal Service has run Operation Santa in Chicago and other cities. This program has become a way for Santa’s helpers, like the Espinoza sisters, to answer those letters.
The letters are written by children and parents in need of help in the holiday season. They ask for toys, books, coats, winter boots and countless other gifts.
This year’s campaign kicked off Thursday with a Christmas party. Children and parents from the Corporate Child Care Learning Center are invited to attend each year. They were treated to story time with Mrs. Claus, holiday music sung by post office workers and a chance to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
“The kids are always excited about it,” said Renee Daniels, a manager at Corporate Child Care. “We put up posters and signs all over the school, and the parents get excited too.”
Letters available for sponsoring can be found at the main post office, 433 W. Harrison St. There, individuals and representatives of organizations who sponsor a letter are able to read through and choose who they wish to sponsor. Once a letter is chosen the sponsor then fills out a form that ensures the anonymity of both the sender and the receiver.
After a person chooses a letter, they can buy what the writer was asking for, wrap the gift, and bring it back to the post office, where they pay to mail the gifts.
The program operates from now through Dec. 20; letters can be picked up from 7: 30 a. m. to 7 p. m., Mondays through Saturdays, through Dec. 17. Starting Dec. 18 through Dec. 20, they can be picked up from 10 a. m. to 6 p. m.
As the kickoff party jingled on, post office “elves” helped sponsors register their chosen letters. Louise Taylor, one of those elves, has worked with Operation Santa for 10 years. She said she has helped register 350 letters, of the thousands received, this season.
“We try to get to all the letters that are sent here,” she said. “Un- fortunately, we have many that go unanswered.”
Cossete Yisrael was at the post office to make sure at least one of those letters would be.
“It feels like being a secret Santa,” Yisrael said as she waited in line with her chosen letter. “It’s a beautiful way to give back.”
“WE TRY TO GET TO ALL THE LETTERS THAT ARE SENT HERE. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE MANY THAT GO UNANSWERED.” LOUISE TAYLOR, who has worked with Operation Santa for 10 years