WE CAN'T REPLY TO ALL THE EMAILS WE GET

We're sorry, but we get so many emails, and we aren't yet funded to reply to most of them! So here on our FAQs page, I'll try to answer the questions we are asked most frequently.

  

Please scroll down and scan the topics below. You're very likely to find the answer you seek.

 

 

PLEASE DON'T WRITE TO SANTA AT OUR ADDRESS.
WE CAN'T SEND GIFTS TO EVERYONE! 
 

Last year we were overwhelmed by the number of families who wrote to us asking for gifts.

Please don't write to Santa here.

If you are seeking gifts, scroll down and look for the red headline, WHERE TO WRITE TO SANTA.

Be An Elf's mission is not to send gifts, but to increase public awareness of the USPS' Operation Santa program, and to inspire volunteers to buy gifts for children from low-income families. In doing so, volunteer elves catch the real spirit of Christmas.  

 

HOW TO FIND A POST OFFICE OFFERING THE OPERATION SANTA PROGRAM

 

Not every city has a post office which offers the Operation Santa program, and finding one may not be so easy. Every branch manager can decide whether the program will be offered by their post office.

 

To learn how to find an Operation Santa branch, please see www.BeAnElf.org/how.html

 

Our Directory of all the branches we know about so far is posted at www.BeAnElf.org/where.html

If the link just above does not list a post office near you, we suggest that you call the manager of the main postal branch in your city, and ask them if there is a post office offering it there.

HINT: The Operation Santa program is not usually offered in cities like Beverly Hills!

For more about this, see WHERE TO WRITE TO SANTA below.

 

HELP US UPDATE OUR DIRECTORY

 

If you locate a postal branch offering Operation Santa which is not yet in our directory, please send us its address and phone, so we can expand and update our list.

 

It's important you include the branch's phone number, and if it has one, the direct number for its Operation Santa "North Pole" room.

 

That way we can verify your submission before we post it. Thank you!

 

WHERE TO WRITE SANTA
FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS IN NEED ONLY 

 

We're glad you want to write to Santa, but he is not at our address.

Please do not write to Santa here. We do not send gifts; that's not what we do.

 

We are a Christmas website to support Santa and his workshop in a very special way. We find elves for Santa, who help Santa send gifts to children whose parents have less than most people have.

Most of our elves at first were visitors to this website. Even though we have never met them, we share the same vision and Christmas spirit.  

 

Our elves respond to letters from children whose families have hardly enough money for food, rent, gas, toys, books, school supplies or clothes. If that sounds like your family:

Write to Santa ONLY at the New York City or Chicago post offices. Both addresses are listed our Directory page.

Please do not write to our address; Santa will not get your letter here!

If you are not in need of food and clothes, then write to Santa in care of the "North Pole," and your letter will be delivered to Santa's main workshop. We are a very small division of Santa's workshop, and only for families in real need.

 

 

 

 

IF OPERATION SANTA IS NOT OFFERED IN YOUR CITY
OTHER GREAT WAYS TO BE AN ELF

 

If there is no post office offering Operation Santa in your city, the good news is there are several other cool ways to be an elf.

 

Here are a few:

 

• Call a local orphanage in your city and ask for the Director. Orphans need toys at Christmas, too.

 

• Sometimes elderly people have no family living, and they can feel sad and alone at Christmas. Call a local home for the aging, and ask to talk to the Director. See if you can bring gifts. For more details, see Other ways to help.

 

• The Salvation Army needs volunteers.

 

• Please Donate Online to Be An Elf. If you prefer to give by check, see Giving by Check. Your contribution will help us recruit new volunteers and further our mission.

 

• Check with a homeless shelter. Homeless people need things too; again, talk to the Director.

For more details on the above, please see our Other Ways to Help page.

 

 

 

DONATE ONLINE TO BE AN ELF

 

Another good way to help out is to Donate Online to Be An Elf.

 

Your gift will help us further our mission, expand our outreach and help us build an army of volunteers! We have exciting plans for the future.

Gifts to our group are tax-deductible.

Please Donate Online, or if you prefer to give by check, see below. Your contribution will help.

GIVING BY CHECK

If you prefer donating by check instead with a credit card, please make your check payable to TFLP-MP. This way, your contribution will be tax-deductible.

If you wish, print out our Giving by Check page and place it with your payables.

TFLP-MP is the tax-exempt 501c3 non-profit group acting as our fiscal sponsor, until Be An Elf has its own tax-exempt status. The initials stand for "The Friends of Levitt Pavilion-MacArthur Park". As our fiscal sponsor and non-profit partner, they will forward your donation to us. We are raising funds to hire an attorney to apply to the IRS for our own non-profit status. Your gift will help.

Please write in the check memo, "For Be An Elf".

Mail it to us at:

Be An Elf
PO Box 492028
Los Angeles, CA 90049-8028

Thanks for your generous gift! Your donation to Be An Elf will further our mission and help us recruit new volunteers.

 

We wish you a holiday season filled with love, and sincerely hope the year ahead will be bright and happy for you and your family. We honor you and thank you for caring.

You can make a difference in a child's life. Be an elf!

 

Elf Patrick
Elf in Chief

www.BeAnElf.org

Be An Elf
PO Box 492028
Los Angeles CA 90049-8028