USPS Operation Santa Starts Letter Adoption Earlier This Year

For 111 years, the U.S. Postal Service has conducted USPS Operation Santa, a program in which the agency receives letters to Santa written by children across the country and then delivers them to Santa’s workshop at 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888. According to USPS, the program “relies solely on random acts of kindness and the generosity of strangers” and “allows people to help children and families have a magical holiday when they otherwise might not.”

This week, USPS opened the letter adoption period before Black Friday for the first time in the program’s history. If you’re interested in becoming a letter adopter for USPS Operation Santa, you can begin reading and adopting letters today.

How Can I Adopt a Letter for USPS Operation Santa?

According to the Postal Service’s press release, the instructions for adopting a USPS Operation Santa letter are as follows:

• Visit USPSOperationSanta.com to register and verify your identity
  • If you’re not able to complete your ID verification online, USPS will provide you with a code and give instructions on how to complete verification in person at your local Post Office
• Once you verify your identity, USPS will send a welcome email with information on how to participate in Operation Santa
• Potential adopters can read letters on the USPS website and choose one or more to fulfill
• Once you choose a letter, you’ll need to follow the directions USPS sent in their welcome email to ship your gift package
• You must ship your package via Priority Mail service, but the gift doesn’t need to be in Priority Mail-branded boxes
• Letter adopters are responsible for paying any shipping costs for sending the gift packages

Save Money on Operation Santa Packages by Buying Discounted Priority Mail Postage Through Shipping Software

As stated above, once you’ve adopted your letter and are ready to send your gift package, you’ll need to purchase Priority Mail postage. You can keep shipping costs low by opting for a Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box, but the box’s tiny size will likely limit the kinds of gifts you can send. For sending Priority Mail packages of any size, shippers should consider using online shipping software to purchase discounted USPS postage.

With online shipping software, you gain access to special discounts that USPS typically only grants to huge shippers sending 50,000 packages or more each year…and these discounts can make all the difference this holiday season. In some cases, discounts from shipping software will lead you to save 89% off of what you’d pay to ship the same box at the Post Office with regular weight-based Priority Mail service! So, when it comes time to ship your gift for USPS Operation Santa, be sure to buy discounted USPS postage online through a shipping software solution instead of going to your local Post Office.