If you’re looking for a way to give back and get yourself into the holiday mood, I find there’s no better way than participating in Operation Santa Claus. The premise is simple: needy children (or their parent) write to Santa, and you go to the post office and go through as many letters as you like until you find the letter(s) that touches you. You fulfill the wishes expressed in the letter — anonymously.
I started doing this probably 15 years ago, after seeing something about it in the newspaper. The letter I selected that first time was from the parents of a young family asking for help with essentials. At the time, I was dating a man who owned a retail pharmacy, so we mailed them a gift certificate for his store. We were truly humbled to see a needy family come in and use it to buy baby formula and diapers, nothing frivolous. I was hooked, and wished we had been less impersonal about it. Every year since then, I’ve taken the time to shop for, wrap and ship the actual items requested in the letters.
Fast-forward to Christmas 2008. I was inspired to offer one of the doormen in my building an opportunity to earn a few bucks delivering my gifts, rather than mailing them anonymously and worrying about whether or not they arrived safely — which is what I had been doing every year since that first time. It had been a very tough year for me in many ways, but the stories my doorman told me about the people he met while making my deliveries put the Christmas back into Christmas for me.
I haven’t yet selected this year’s letters, but I’m betting there will be more than ever this year given the events of 2009. I’m not here to proselytize — just to tell you that if you participate, you’ll feel like you’re the one who got a gift.
http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/Pages/santa_tips.htm
