For the past 27 years, the Hellenic Post (ELTA) has offered a special service to children who send letters to Santa Claus: the kids get a reply letter from “Santa’s helpers”, telling them that their letter has been forwarded to Santa Claus.
The program “Write a letter to Santa Claus” was initiated in the late 1980s, when the Greek state’s postal service employees saw an increasing load of letters addressed to Santa Claus piling up at the headquarters. So they took action to make sure that no such letter will be left unanswered and so that kids will keep believing in Santa Claus.
Every year before the holiday season, special red boxes are placed outside post offices across Greece for letters addressed to Santa. The letters are collected, read by ELTA employees and all children receive a written reply and a symbolic present — a stamp, to start their own collection.
The reply letter comes from the employees who sign as “Santa’s aides” and inform the sender that the letter with their wishes is forwarded to Santa Claus.
According to ELTA, last year 120,000 such letters were received by December 31st New Year’s Eve the same day Santa Claus delivers presents.
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