Registration has opened for USPS Operation Santa, the annual program that allows people to “adopt” letters to help Santa Claus grant holiday wishes for people experiencing hardship.
Beginning Nov. 15, anyone wanting to adopt a letter can go to USPSOperationSanta.com, select the registration link and follow the prompts.
For security reasons, all prospective adopters must be vetted through a short registration and ID verification process before they can participate. If someone has adopted letters in the past, they must still be verified each year.
Letters will be available for adoption beginning Nov. 29. Verified adopters can read the letters and select one or more at that time.
Once the letters are chosen, the adopters must follow the directions they received in their welcome email in order to fulfill requested holiday wishes.
Letter adopters are also responsible for all costs to ship the gift packages, including appropriate postage.
If potential adopters are unable to verify their identity online, for the first time they have the option to get verified in person.
Customers will be emailed a barcode and the location of the nearest participating Post Office location; qualifying offices can be found online using the usps.com locator tool.
The annual program began accepting letters from those in need Nov. 1. The deadline to send letters is Dec. 10 and the deadline to adopt letters is Dec. 22.
The Postal Service has released a video on social media and USPS websites that explains how to participate in the program.
