USPS’ Operation Santa: Making children’s holidays merry and bright

The holidays are approaching, and that means the United States Postal Service’s yearly initiative, Operation Santa, is back in business. 

This time of year, kids across the country are writing to Santa at the North Pole to share their holiday wishlist. USPS’s Operation Santa, which has been a tradition for over 100 years, makes it possible for folks to “adopt” kids via their letters and help Santa deliver on those wishes to millions of kids. 

This year, the USPS is making it easier to do that by launching a new online catalog for gift fulfillment: Santa’s Gift Shoppe debuted Nov. 18. 

Curious how it works? Kids’ letters are published on the USPS Operation Santa website (minus identifying personal information), where adopters can peruse the letters and choose the ones they want to adopt—up to 15 letters. 

All you have to do is sign up, create an account, and get verified. And for folks worried about safety: there’s a verification process which redacts all personally identifiable information (PII), including last names, address, and school or community names. There are no PII on the letters posted on the Operation Santa website, and the adopter doesn’t know any of the letter writer’s PII. 

When it comes down to finding the gifts your adopted kids have requested, you can either shop on your own or use Santa’s Gift Shoppe online. As an added bonus, you can ship your gift right away through Santa’s Gift Shoppe — all packaging and shipping will be handled for you, and purchases $49 and over receive free shipping. You can also send your gift from a participating Post Office.

Key dates to keep in mind: Monday, Dec. 9 is the last day to send letters to Santa. Monday, Dec. 16 is the last day to adopt letters before the website closes at 8 p.m. ET. Please send before this date to make sure they arrive in time for Christmas.

And, in the event you are unable to complete an adoption, you can cancel it under Your Letters in your account profile. Canceling allows the letter to be republished on the site so it can be adopted by someone else.

Ready to adopt and shop? See adoptable letters here.