Canada Post employee Brandy Jansen excitedly sends her Christmas wish to the North Pole.
Erin Christie photo
Keeping up annual traditions may be getting more difficult as years pass, but Canada Post’s Letters to Santa program is one that remains a constant, and one that Marnee Vala is proud to help carry on.
Vala, who lives in Oliver with her husband and two young children, says writing a letter to Santa Claus was always a perfect way to kick off the wave of Christmas anticipation.
Now, after a lengthy absence from writing to Santa herself, Vala gets to keep the tradition going for her children.
“It’s a Canadian tradition,” she said, “writing and then taking your letter down to Canada Post. They always had a specific mail box set up just for letters to Santa.”
“It’s a special experience for kids because it gives them hope. I always make sure my kids include a wish, a thought or a prayer for someone else because I want them to know that Christmas isn’t just about presents, it’s really about giving and thinking of others.”
The program, now in its 30th year, is an employee-led volunteer initiative with current and retired employees, known as “postal elves” donating more than 226,000 volunteer hours each year to ensure that as many children as possible get a response after writing Santa with their wishes.
Brenda Pors, a former postal elf, who works for Canada Post in Oliver, said she believes in the value of the program and the message it sends to children.
“When I did it I found it was a lot of fun,” she said.
“It’s a wonderful program because it gives kids hope. That’s what Santa Clause is to children. It’s hope.”
The original program launched in Montreal, Quebec in 1974, with the national program forming in 1982. That year 22,000 letters being answered with the help of nearly 1,000 volunteer elves. By 1984, that number jumped to half a million letters that were answered by 5,000 of ‘Santa’s helpers’.
In 2012 more than 1.2 million children who wrote Santa got a letter in the mail from the jolly old elf himself, with an additional 43,000 getting their response via email. Canada Post expects the 20 millionth letter to be sent out by Santa before Christmas this year.
Though Pors said the format of the program has changed a little since 1982, the fundamentals remain the same.
“We type them out now and add a handwritten message, we used to write the whole thing by hand,” she noted.
Santa, through Canada Post, now also gets letters in 30 languages, including braille.
For the past six years an Osoyoos man who goes by the alias “Santa’s helper” has dug into the massive stacks of letters to Santa as Oliver’s sole postal elf.
He said the program is one of the most rewarding volunteer activities he has participated in.
The retired Canada Post employee says he typically receives about 140–150 letters from local children between the ages of three and 14.
Over the years, he said, Santa has received his fair share of interesting requests, from the latest “i” product or gadget, to the more traditional Barbie dream houses, Lego and ponies.
“One of my favourite letters was from this boy who said he had been basically good all year but he had stripped his halo a little bit.”
But he noted it’s often the requests for sentimental objects that resonate the loudest with him.
He said some children ask for things for their parents or for less fortunate friends to have a joyful season.
“I got one letter from a little boy who was so sad because he had to move away from his friends so his dad could find a job. He just wanted his friends back for Christmas.”
Not all letters, unfortunately, are filled with happiness. In some cases, he said, the concerns are more serious.
“It’s amazing how perceptive they can be. They know when mom and dad are going through a tough time. I’m always impressed at how selfless children can be.”
He said when they get letters with requests for things like a job for dad, or for divorced parents to get back together for the holidays, he can’t help but be touched, but is careful not to make promises.
“Sometimes those letters are forwarded on to a team of individuals in our Vancouver office who are able to handle those cases. But we don’t get too many of those letters. We we do, we try to help if we can.”
The deadline for Christmas arrival of Santa letters sent to Canada Post is December 19. Letters can be addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, HOH OHO, Canada.
Santa has a special arrangement with the post office and a stamp is not required.
Erin Christie
Oliver Chronicle
