Santa Pushing the Envelope to Answer County Kids’ Letters

The vast majority of mail-savvy Ventura County kids will get letters from Santa Claus this year, post office officials said Friday.

More than two-thirds of the boys and girls who sent mail to the North Pole remembered to include the one bit of information Santa and his helpers need to respond: a return address.

“It’s a lot better than last year,� said Stacia Crane, who heads Santa’s Helpers, the Santa Clarita-based postal program that responds to Santa letters from four area counties, including Ventura.

In recent years, only about half the 10,000 or so letters the postal district traditionally receives have had return addresses.

“I know that Santa knows where everybody lives, but he’s getting old and needs reminders,� Crane said.

Though she does not know what caused the increase in self-addressed letters, Crane said post office volunteers will have to write 300 to 500 responses each day through Christmas to answer them all.

Santa’s Helpers started responding to this year’s letter writers Dec. 1.

Letters typically include wish lists, but some are a bit unusual. Kids sometimes mail cookies to Santa, or coupons to help pay for their gifts, she said.

One Oxnard girl mailed a check from her parents’ checkbook, filled out to Santa for $100, and signed, “Nina.� Crane said she will return the check to the parents.

In addition to answering letters, Santa’s Helpers provide gifts for needy kids who write to Santa for help.

“It’s a nice program,� Crane said. “It makes all of us feel good.�

When local post offices receive Santa letters, they forward them to the district office. There, Crane and her team of volunteer helpers write response mail and arrange to grant some of the Christmas wishes.

“Who we work for is Santa Claus,� Crane said, adding that the kids who receive Santa’s letters and gifts never know the jolly one had help from his friends at the postal service.

“That’s the way it should be.�