VOLUNTEERS PLAY SANTA TO NEEDY CHILDREN : POSTAL WORKERS ANSWER LETTERS, PROVIDE GIFTS.Byline: Deborah Hastings Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The letter begins like thousands of others. ``Dear Santa Dear Santa was a Christmas TV special that aired December 9, 2005 on Fox and November 28, 2006 on ABC Family. Plot The special focused on Santa Claus (voiced by Tom Kane) granting the wishes of children via letters from Operation Santa ,'' writes an 8-year-old girl with a big request. ``I want a computer for Christmas with a mouse.'' Then comes the next sentence: ``I am partially blind and I want to learn all I can because my doctor said that I will lose my sight by the time I become a teen-ager. My mom can't get us anything for Christmas. Because she doesn't have any money.'' On white paper, in neat block printing, another child writes, ``Please make my Daddy stop drinking.'' Another asks Santa to cure her mother's cancer. Confides 8-year-old Audrey, in a labored cursive hand a running handwriting. See also: Cursive , ``I need my mom to stop believing that my dad has another woman because when they fight my heart starts breaking.'' By the tens of thousands, they come addressed to ``Santa in Heaven,'' ``Santa up in the sky'' and ``Santa Claus Santa Claus: see Nicholas, Saint. Santa Claus jolly, gift-giving figure who visits children on Christmas Eve. [Christian Tradition: NCE, 1937] See : Christmas Santa Claus , North Pole North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90°N. It is distinguished from the north magnetic pole. U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary is traditionally credited as being the first to reach (1909) the North Pole. In 1926, Richard E. ,'' and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Postal Service postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval , through its 85 consumer affairs offices, tries to answer every one. Often, federal employees and hundreds of volunteers do much more - anonymously, under the assumed identity of Santa Claus - which just goes to show there still is such a thing as goodwill. In Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , at a massive distribution center an hour's drive north of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Stacia Crane is surrounded by overflowing bins of mail addressed to Santa Claus. She manages the consumer affairs office for the Van Nuys district, which stretches north more than 200 miles. She gets all Santa's mail from that area. This season alone will bring 15,000 letters, she estimates. Her regular job is handling complaints. At Christmas, she and her 84 colleagues across the country start reading Santa's letters. Crane and her two-member staff place the most poignant in a box marked ``needy.'' The box is heartbreaking. It also is full of hope. Not only children believe in Santa Claus. In broken, misspelled English, a Latino mother of two in Massachusetts, who for some reason believes Santa lives in California, writes: ``Pleses help me. I need toys and closes for my grils. I do not have a home and I only get (social security) of $497 amont.'' She addresses her letter ``Santa Claus c/o North Pole'' and places a California ZIP code zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. on the envelope. It sits in Crane's office. A soft-hearted woman with no family, Crane works 12-hour days, straight through Christmas Eve, answering letters, organizing volunteers and delivering packages of gifts. Her compassion is contagious. Ask her why she does this, and her eyes fill with tears. ``It's Christmas,'' she replies. ``These kids really believe. They deserve to have somebody get back to them.'' In the ``needy'' box, writers ask for food, for shoes, for gifts for everyone in their family except themselves, for jobs for their parents and for an end to abuse. ``They're just children,'' she says, blinking hard. ``They're not adults. They shouldn't have these burdens.'' For these children, postal employees and volunteers go out of their way. They have been known to take boxes of food and gifts, place them on a writer's doorstep, ring the bell, then run. ``We watched from around the corner as they opened the door,'' Crane said. ``It's a lot of fun. We try to keep the mystery alive. We want them to think Santa brought it.'' Facilities engineer Mike Scisson takes home letters that have phone numbers on them. Then he calls and pretends he's Santa Claus. Does he get paid overtime? ``Oh, heavens no,'' he says. ``I wouldn't want to.'' Local post offices, thanks to a written order signed by Postmaster General POSTMASTER GENERAL. The chief officer of the post office department of the United States. Various duties are imposed upon this officer by the acts of congress of March 3, 1825, and July 2, 1836, which will be found under the articles Mail; Post Office and Postage. Frank H. Hitchcock Frank Harris Hitchcock (October 5, 1867 – August 25, 1935), was chairman of Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1909. He was then Postmaster General of the United States under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1913. on Dec. 18, 1912, are authorized to open mail ``addressed plainly and unmistakably to Santa Claus'' and to answer such letters and enlist volunteers ``exclusively for philanthropic purposes.'' Eight years ago, when the postal service opened its consumer affairs department in an effort to become user-friendly, answering Santa mail was officially assigned to that division. Before, individual post offices and letter carriers answered what they could, or simply forwarded Santa Claus letters to the dead mail department. Crane admits she and her helpers have made mistakes. ``At first, we weren't very good at it,'' she said. Like the time she and a group of post office employees filled a car with presents and descended upon a Latino family whose son had written to Santa. ``All these government employees, in our government suits, in our government car with government plates,'' Crane remembers. ``No one would open the door.'' So they found a Spanish-speaking interpreter and returned to the home. ``The uncle started to cry,'' Crane said. ``He couldn't believe that someone in the United States would do this.'' Those interested in becoming a Santa's helper may contact their local post office. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--color) These letters to Santa Claus may receive answers, thanks to caring U.S. postal workers. (2) Miracle Womack, 9, of New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. doodles Doodles can mean the following:
(3) Postal worker Sandreaus Cobb, volunteering to answer children's letters to Santa Claus, enjoys a light moment during the holiday grind at a Manhattan post office. Associated Press |
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