How to get a letter from Santa at the post office this Christmas

NORTH POLE --- Ho! Ho! Ho! We're just a little more than a month away from Christmas, and St. Nick himself wants to make this holiday season merrier with a personalized letter. 

The U.S. Postal Service's "Letters to Santa" program is asking the help of Father Christmas to help not only deliver gifts, but also a proper response to a child's wishes. 

To make your child’s Christmas a little more memorable this year, these are the following steps you must follow in order for them to get a letter from Santa:

1. Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
2. Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
3. Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
4. Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.
5. Affix a First-Class Mail stamp, such as a new Holiday Windows stamp, to the envelope.

Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope — preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope — with appropriate postage and address it to:

North Pole Postmark

4141 Postmark Drive

Anchorage, AK 99530-9998

Note: “Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than Dec. 15. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.

The Postal Service asks that you share your holiday experience using the hashtag #LettersFromSanta.

A few tips:

To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote.

When responding as Santa, make the response as personal as possible by highlighting your child’s accomplishments over the past year, for example, helping around the house, receiving good grades in a particular subject at school or participating in community service activities.