By JENNIFER SZULMAN
Who says Santa Claus isn’t real?
Not the kids from P.S. 33 who filled the resonant rooms of the James A. Farley Post Office in Midtown on Tuesday to help the U.S. Postal Service kick off the annual “Operation Santa: Adopt-A-Letter campaign in which thousands of letters addressed simply to the North Pole are made available to visitors who might want to fulfill the Christmas wish of a child.
Radio City Music Hall’s resident Santa, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and other symbols of the holiday season were on hand at the site of the largest “letters to Santa” location in the nation , celebrating its 102nd anniversary of the campaign.
As expected, many requests are pretty typical.
“Santa said he’s gonna give me a little bike because I got to sit on his lap and tell him,” said Celina Whiteswing, a grade-schooler at P.S. 33. “I want a video game that my brother has because he doesn’t share it.
Postal “elves” sift through many of the letters and black out all of the child’s personal information. The letters are then put into an “adoption” area where spirited customers can adopt a letter and become Santa’s helper. In New York, the good willed customer buys the gift and must bring it to the main post office branch on 8th Avenue where it will then be delivered to the child’s home.
And while some kids may ask Santa for a new toy, doll or like Celina, a new bike, many parents rely on the kindness of strangers to provide their children essential things that they can’t afford.
For example, a single mother named Angela writes to Santa that two of her sons are incarcerated so she is looking after her grandchildren. She says she is unemployed and requests Santa bring clothing and shoes for them. She writes, “I don’t have the money to buy gifts for any of them, please Santa, give me a hand.”
Officials in the iconic building where scenes from the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street was filmed, say that lending a helping hand is what Operation Santa is all about.
“We connect the needy and the community with people in the community who want to do charitable, goodwill things for others during the Christmas season,” said William J. Schnaars, New York District Manager of the USPS. “The people who help really are doing blind acts of kindness. They get no credit really except for personal fulfillment that they’re satisfying someone’s dream. What’s great is that [the Post Office] is the conduit that makes it all happen.”
Manhattan Postmaster Elvin Mercado thinks now is as good a time as ever for the public to get involved and give to those less fortunate.
“We see a lot of gifts but now we also see clothing and food,” said Mercado. “[Operation Santa] has become more personal because of the economy over the last few years. People need things besides gifts. And we work hard to make sure every letter is read.”
Postal customers eager to participate in the Operation Santa program have until January 6, 2015 to bring the package to the James A. Farley Post Office in Midtown.
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