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Nov 21, 2005 4:52 pm US/Central
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Post Office Expects 10,000 Letters To Santa
by Rafael Romo
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
It's the time of year where kids have images of more than just sugar plums dancing in their heads.
CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports the U.S. Postal Service is working to answer as many of those letters to Santa as possible.
All of the letters start with the same words: Dear Santa.
Some ask for shoes to play in the summer, others want their health back after an operation. But it's not only children who request gifts from that good gentleman, who lives in the North Pole.
"Dear Santa, I'm a single, low-income mom seeking help to give me three great children a decent Christmas," said one letter.
It is crunch time at the Chicago headquarters of the U.S. Postal Service, where this year they expect to get as many as 10,000 letters addressed to Santa Claus.
"If we're in bad shape and there are a lot of people out of work, the letters will stack up. We will get probably 12,000 to 15,000. If the economy looks good, we've had as little as 7,000 letters," said Bonnie Johnson with the U.S. Postal Service.
It's a labor of love. The letters start coming in around September and by this time of the year they have thousands, and they read each and every one of them.
"They really need help. Some of the parents, they don't have no job, and some are low-income. Some are in shelters," said postal worker Bertheine Patt.
Major corporations and companies, as well as churches and organizations, adopt families that need help after reading the letters.
If you want to play Santa for a needy child or family, you can go to the U.S. Postal Service central facility or call the Santa hotline.
Cardiss Collins Post Office433 W. Harrison
Second floor retail lobby
Santa's Hotline: 312-983-TOYS (8697)
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)