NYC continues Operation Santa

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Operation Santa Claus is back for another year to offer an opportunity to help the less fortunate this Christmas.

OperationLetterToSanta.com was launched in 2001 to raise public awareness of the program, run by the United States Postal Service, that helps bring Christmas to needy children.

For more than 80 years, volunteer postal workers have answered letters to Santa from children who would otherwise have no Christmas at all.

Operation Santa Claus, based out of the James A. Farley building across from Madison Square Garden, continues to grow and evolve each year.

It is now available to citizens, corporations, civic and church groups and anyone who would like to help bring a smile to a child who has little or no hope of receiving a Christmas present.

And this Christmas season, Operation Santa Claus may be available at your local post office. Please check with your postmaster to find out where you can get Dear Santa letters.

All you have to do is show proper identification and fill out a brief application form. Then you'll get a handful of letters to read before deciding how many children you'd like to help brighten the holiday.

You can pick up letters in person at the James A. Farley Building. The Postal Service says more than 100,000 letters already have arrived from children and families asking Santa to help make their holidays happy. Another 400,000 letters are expected.

An 8-year-old Bronx boy named Edgar says he waited, but Santa never showed up last year.

His letter says his dad doesn't make enough money to buy things for the family. He says he wants coats, clothes and shoes so he and his brother can go to school during the winter.

The Operation Santa Claus program kicked off Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 11 a.m. and will end on December 24. You cannot pick up letters on Sundays.

Hours of operation will be:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Third party by appointment: 212-330-3000

For more information on the program, call 212-330-3000.

OperationLetterToSanta.com also offers more than 850 pages of holiday traditions, tales, sheet music, carols, lyrics, recipes, crafts, games and a kid zone for children of all ages.

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