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News Release

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Be An Elf provides the best guide available to the public on

how and where to volunteer for USPS Operation Santa

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Public can get needy kids’ letters to Santa at

select USPS branches, send gifts directly to kids

 

 

Make an underprivileged child smile on Christmas morning

and catch the real spirit of the holidays!

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High resolution video and photos

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 MSNBC News Story, December 4, 2011

Fox News Channel Story, December 5, 2011

Anti-smoking activist rallies elves for Santa, December 14, 2011

 

 

 

December 1st, 2011 — New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and 67 more cities  

 

 

The US Postal Service has kicked off its “Operation Letters to Santa” program, which each year makes available letters to Santa written by underprivileged children. Volunteers from the public may pick up letters asking Santa for “a warm coat”, “food or clothes” or “shoes for my older brother,” clearly written by kids who need a brighter Christmas, and then mail their gifts to the child.

 

 

It’s micro-philanthropy, direct from each volunteer to a child, with no charity involved. Last December, the Postal Service distributed letters to Santa from needy kids at 24 post offices, mostly in large cities. The USPS Operation Santa program has made children’s Santa letters available to the public for 99 years — since 1912 — but many Americans are unaware of the USPS program.

 

 

We invite your coverage, as well as a mention / inclusion of the new non-profit group Be An Elf. www.BeAnElf.org provides the best guide now available to the public about the USPS Operation Santa program. The site lets the public know how to volunteer, lists all participating postal branches in the US, offers tips for gifts, and provides high resolution photos and video of past volunteers and children, as they received surprise gifts “from Santa”. Be An Elf’s gift suggestions include backpacks, school supplies, new clothes, books, and a small gift for Moms, who, the site notes, are often single and living below the poverty line.

 

 

Some people feel alone and sad over the holidays, and find comfort and inspiration in volunteering for the program. Others have families, and involve their kids in the program to teach them the meaning of Christmas. The letters to Santa distributed by the Postal Service are sent not only by kids, but by single moms who may not have enough money to buy their kids gifts at Christmas.

 

 

Be An Elf suggests that reporters visit an “Operation Santa Room” and follow a random volunteer, as they read children’s letters at the post office, shop for gifts, wrap them at home, maybe wrapping them together with some friends, and finally, follow them as they bring packages back to the post office for mailing.

 

 

What the children’s letters say is deeply touching, but when the mail carrier knocks on a family’s door and surprises them with unexpected gifts, the smiles on the children’s faces could make a sweet ending to this Christmas story.  Families may even allow the news crew to film their kids as they open gifts.

 

 

The manager of the participating post office may be able to arrange for reporters to follow mail carriers on the “Santa” deliveries. Note that sometimes kids are not home, so be sure the mail carrier has gifts for several families.

 

 

Also, in early December, before the Christmas rush begins, reporters may have to wait a bit in the Operation Santa room for volunteers to show up. While they wait, they may read and film some children’s letters.

 

 

To protect children’s privacy, in 2008 the postal service started removing children’s return addresses from their letters and numbering each letter. Volunteers never see children’s addresses, and must mail their gifts. Only postal workers may deliver gifts.

 

 

Lauren Psovsky of Brooklyn, NY, found out about the program through BeAnElf.org in December, 2009. She invited friends to a Christmas party at her home, and asked each guest to bring a gift for a child. The following Christmas season, she got her whole apartment building involved in the program. By organizing a group of friends, she was able to divide up the work of visiting the post office and choosing letters to Santa, shopping for the gifts, wrapping them all and then returning to the postal branch to mail them. And she got to have a memorable Christmas party.

 

 

When the letters to Santa start arriving at participating postal branches in late November each year, postal workers read through the letters and divide them into categories like “Needy Kids,” “Needy Moms,” and “Wish lists”. While postal staff will not comment on the selection process, it’s likely that the letters selected are mailed in from economically depressed zip codes.  Volunteers from the public are invited to read though them.

 

 

Every year in most cities, there are too many letters from needy kids and not enough volunteers from the public to answer them all.

 

 

Be An Elf’s National Directory page  links to the post office’s National Directory of participating branches. In 2011, 75 postal branches are offering Operation Santa, triple the number in 2010. Be An Elf has received encouragement to “send us volunteers” from USPS Communications office at the US Postal Service Headquarters in Washington DC.

 

 

Be An Elf has also received a major grant from Google, which awarded the 501c3 group an in-kind grant of $10,000 to $45,000 per month in free advertising. This makes the www.BeAnElf.org easy to find.

 

 

Be An Elf’s website provides the best guide available to the public on how and where to participate in the Operation Santa program. The group’s mission is to create public awareness of the USPS program, recruit volunteers for it, offer tips for participating and where Operation Santa branches are, and to inspire people with the real spirit of Christmas.

 

 

In short, Be An Elf helps put smiles on more needy children’s faces on Christmas morning.

 

 

Please include a mention of www.BeAnElf.org in your coverage of this inspiring Christmas story. Further info follows below.

 

 

Be An Elf
www.BeAnElf.org

 

 

@Howtobeanelf   (Twitter)

 

 

CONTACT:
Patrick Reynolds, Be An Elf
310-577-9828 Office
patrick2@beanelf.org

 

 

 

High resolution video and photos

 

 

Be An Elf’s National Directory links to the USPS State by State list and a USA Today map of all participating postal branches in the US 

 

 

Below is branch info for 3 of the 75 participating cities in 2011.

 

 

Always call the branch and speak with the communications officer to re-confirm location and hours of operation.

 

 

 

NEW YORK CITY

 

 

James A. Farley Post Office, Ground floor
421 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10199-9998
(33rd Street & 8th Avenue – very near Penn Station)

 

 

NYC Operation Santa Hotline: (212)330-3000
Call hotline to confirm days open and hours of operation.

 

 

Hours in 2011: are Monday – Friday from 9 am to 4 pm (Thursdays until 7 pm). Saturdays from 9 am to 4 pm

 

 

LOS ANGELES 

 

 

Main Processing and Distribution Center
7001 South Central Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90052
Entrance to the North Pole room is on South Central Ave, between Florence Ave & Gage Ave. Go in the office building entrance (not the post office)
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday only, Noon – 2pm (in 2011)

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Last day to get letters is December 20th, noon – 2pm.

Deliver gifts ready for mailing back to that branch on Thursday,  Dec 22nd. Hours are noon – 2 pm only.

 

 

BOSTON

 

 

25 Dorchester Avenue, Boston MA 02205
(Main Post Office located adjacent to South Station tracks)
Boston news release

 

 

 

 

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