Question: Does the post office still do Operation Santa for needy kids?
Answer: Yes, online, and when we checked the Operation Santa website Tuesday, there were letters from Hawaii families and children hoping for their Christmas wishes to be fulfilled. This program coordinated by the U.S. Postal Service is nationwide, but donors can filter their search by state.
Details for letter writers and gift givers are on the website, uspsoperationsanta.com, but we’ll highlight some key points:
>> Letter writers: Mail your letter to Santa, 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888 by Dec. 11 (letters must be postmarked by that date). Affix a first-class stamp in the upper right corner. Write legibly. In your letter, include your first name, last name, full return address and your holiday wishes. Be specific about what gifts you want, and list them in order of preference, but don’t ask for anything that might be too expensive. There are letter-writing templates on the website. Families with more than one child writing a letter should group the letters in one envelope and affix extra postage as needed.
>> Gift givers: Go to the website and click on “Adopt a Letter,” which will take you to a page where you can review letters from individuals and families. Use the filter to select letters by state. Anyone can read the letters, but to adopt a letter you’ll need to create an Operation Santa account on the website and verify your identity, for the safety of the children writing the letters — the U.S. Postal Service needs to know who is sending each gift. Once verified, you can purchase whatever gifts you choose (you don’t have to supply every item on a letter writer’s list) and mail them according to directions you’ll receive. You will pay for mailing. Gift givers won’t learn the recipient’s mailing address. The mailed gifts will be from Santa. The last day to adopt a letter is Dec. 18.
“We welcome letters from across the state, of course, but this year we’d like to especially encourage letters from kids whose families lost homes during the Lahaina fire. And we want to encourage Hawaii residents to sign up to be adopters and seek out those letters from Hawaii families. We hope Operation Santa will help to bring a little holiday joy into the lives of those most in need,” Duke Gonzales, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, said in an email.
Also on the topic of holiday mail, the U.S. Postal Service recommends that Hawaii residents mailing Christmas cards and packages first class and priority mail to the mainland do so by Dec. 16, or by Dec. 20 if they are paying extra for priority express mail. Within Hawaii those dates are Dec. 19 and 20, respectively.
Mahalo
Mahalo to Johnny Datu, who works at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. I was traveling to the mainland recently with my in-laws, not knowing that one of them would have difficulty making the long trek from the TSA security line to the C gate at the end of the terminal. We stopped to rest for a while, and Johnny happened to be walking past and took notice that we might be having some issues. He went out of his way to ask if we wanted a wheelchair and then brought it to us. It made it so much easier to get everyone to the gate with time to spare. I believe the airline staff also flagged my mother-in-law to get wheelchair assistance for all our other flights, which really helped us make our connecting flight coming back. So, thank you, Johnny, and hope you have a wonderful holiday season! — Grateful traveler
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
