It was recently reported that the 55-year-old Operation Santa program has been canceled because of a sex offender. Upon further investigation, I discovered – happily – that the rumors of Operation Santa’s demise are greatly exaggerated. Yes, the program was indeed suspended – in New York and Chicago last year. This year, according to the United States Postal Service Web site, there are some 39 participating post offices from Alaska to Florida that will safely send a letter to your child from Santa.
To ensure the safety of children, the USPS has developed a system whereby children’s last names and addresses are replaced with computerized codes. Participants are also required to return the letters to the post office for mailing, rather than mailing the letters themselves. It is a time-consuming and costly system, which has prompted many sites to discontinue the program locally, thus the confusing or misleading reports of a complete shutdown.
Reading further in the MSN article, it’s clearly stated that children can still send letters to Santa. Whether Santa sends his response via Operation Santa or a number of other options is up to you. Just don’t take too long to get your child’s letter to Santa sent out. The big guy will need a couple of weeks to receive the letter, write his response, and get it back in time for Christmas.
