Chicago Letters to Santa

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Nov 30, 2004 1:50PM

Looking for some unique volunteer work to do this holiday season? How about this - The post office is launching its Chicago Letters to Santa program. The downtown office is looking for Chicagoans to pick up letters and sponsor needy children and families for the holidays.

Each year Chicago's post offices get 7,000 - 12,000 letters addressed to Santa Claus at the North Pole. Already they've received about 2,500 letters this year. The post office sorts them by zip code, ethnic group, family size, age and sex of children, and specific needs like food or clothing. Since the late 1960s they've then allowed people, companies and organizations to choose the letters and play santa to the families.

If interested, get your jolly red booty to the Cardiss Collins post office (433 W. Harrison St., 2nd floor lobby) or call 312.983.8360.

If you're not into volunteering (hey, some scrooges just aren't), but you still want to send Santa letters, there are a bunch of websites where you can fill in info for a fee and send your favorite niece/nephew a letter from the jolly old elph. If you're cheap bastards, like us, or if you want to use them as pranks, like us, go to northpole.com to send free ecard messages. We can just see it now:

Dear Annoying Coworker-
You bore all of your cubemates with your talk of landscaping and remodelling. If you want any presents at all this year, then stop immediately.
From, Santa