The Magical Holidays Brought To You By The Postal Service And ABC Family

November 22, 2006 - WASHINGTON - It’s that magical time of year. The United States Postal Service, ABC Family, 7-Eleven, Mann Made Productions and City Explorer TV have partnered this holiday season as Santa’s helpers to grant the special holiday wishes of children in need.

ABC Family will premiere a one-hour holiday special titled, “Dear Santa” on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. ET/PT and Saturday, Dec. 16, at 7 a.m. ET/PT. This network TV special was created to help make children’s dreams come true — dreams that were written in letters to Santa Claus from children all across the country.

“Santa has counted on the power of the mail for more than two centuries to deliver the special holiday wishes of children,” said Postmaster General John E. Potter. “Connecting families, friends and loved ones through the mail during the holiday season is what we do. Postal employees everywhere join charitable organizations, corporations and individuals as Santa’s helpers to make children’s holiday wishes come true by answering the letters to Santa that we receive,” Potter said. “We are pleased to be a part of this production and hope it encourages others to visit their local Post Offices to do the same.”

In 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to let individuals and institutions use letters addressed to Santa Claus for philanthropic purposes. In that tradition, the Postal Service provided Mann Made Productions and City Explorer TV with letters to Santa from around the country and they chose the letters featured on the show.

Seen in over 90 million homes, the special features Santa granting the wishes of children with a little help from celebrity “elves” Matt Dallas (“Kyle XY”), Sarah Chalke (’Scrubs“), pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, hit recording artist Brian McKnight, actress Raven-Symoné (”That’s So Raven“), Wilmer Valderama (”That 70’s Show“) and host Kristen Bell (”Veronica Mars").

The Postal Service will be promoting the special with in-store posters in most of its 37,000 Post Offices and online at USPS.com/holiday/dearsanta.htm.

This year’s “Dear Santa” special will also take a look at two of last year’s children who were granted extraordinary holiday wishes and see how they are doing. These special families will help pass along the giving spirit to others in need.


Since 1775, the United States Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, have connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency that visits more than 144 million homes and businesses every day, the Postal Service is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. It receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $70 billion, it is the world’s leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world’s mail volume — some 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year - and serves ten million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.

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