12/9/2020 Jonah wants nothing from Santa this year except for a cure for coronavirus.
Anthony told Santa he wants a magical button he could press to transport him away from the weary reality of the pandemic.
Jasmyne’s Christmas list is short and to the point. “This year, I would like end of Covid-19, world peace, climate control, new Xbox,” it reads.
In their letters to Santa Claus, kids across the US are still asking for toys, clothes, Legos and video games. But in a year filled with illness and uncertainty, a review of letters addressed to the North Pole and collected through the Post Office’s Operation Santa program reveals the pandemic is weighing heavily on children.
Some are imploring Santa to make coronavirus go away. Others are asking for masks for Christmas. Still others write about the challenges of going to school online or how their parents can’t afford to buy presents this year because they lost their jobs.
“Dear Santa,” Jonah wrote. “I don’t want anything for Christmas, but I would like to ask you if you can do me a favor: Can you please find a cure for Covid-19 and give it to us to save the world. Thank you.”
The Postal Service helps fulfill Christmas wishes
The Postal Service began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than a century ago. Operation Santa dates to 1912, when Frank Hitchcock, the postmaster general at the time, allowed postal workers to open and respond to letters addressed to the North Pole.
Post offices worked with volunteers who agreed to “adopt” letters from needy children and send them items on their wish lists.
In 2017, the effort went online in a few major cities. This year, for the first time, the USPS posted all the letters on its Operation Santa site for Samaritans across the country who wish to help kids and their families.