'Letters To Santa' Post Office Display To Begin Next Week
CHICAGO (WBBM) - The main post office in Chicago will have a few thousand "Letters to Santa" displayed in the mezzanine lobby by Wednesday of next week - most of them from needy families asking for help. Newsradio 780's Steve Miller reports.
For many years, the post office has been getting letters addressed to Santa: some written by adults, some by children.
Almost all ask for help; for basic things like coats and warm clothes. Usually they ask for help for families, for children. But not always.
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Post Office Spokesman Mark Reynolds read one letter that said:
"Dear Santa Claus…I'm writing on behalf of an elderly man who's 80 years of age. Last year around Christmas time he lost his wife. They were married over 40 years. He lives alone now and sometimes he's very depressed due to the loss of his wife. Please bless him with a supermarket gift card."
Another letter from a 22-year-old named Leticia said:
"Dear Santa Claus…I am four months pregnant and I don't know what I am having. I work at a fast food restaurant and I only work part-time. I have my own apartment and I pay my bills by myself the best way that I can. Sometimes I just sit in my room and cry to myself, wishing that I had my mother and father or someone close to me around to help me out when I need help, and to talk to about my problems when I am down. I am asking Santa just to bless my baby with anything that he can give me. I have not even started buying my baby anything yet because my money is low. Thank you for taking the time out to read my letter. Sincerely, Leticia."
Reynolds says more than 3,000 letters will be displayed in the mezzanine lobby of the main post office at 433 W. Harrison St., starting Wednesday, Dec. 1 through Tues., Dec. 21.
Like last year, anyone interested in taking a letter and answering it, must sign a release and then bring the gift back to the post office for mailing.
