Pam Luttrell, a local postal worker, has served as Santa's personal secretary since 2006, responding to all the letters to Santa received at the United States Post Office located on Opelika Road.
Luttrell was recently told to stop responding to the letters from children addressed to Santa Claus in the Auburn area. However, the letters will now continue.
According to Keith Turner, Luttrell's union steward, post master John Johnson informed Turner he believed Luttrell would not have the time necessary to respond to these letters this year. Johnson proposed the response letters be outsourced to a program in Montgomery.
Johnson could not be reached for comment.
Auburn district manager Ron Davis has recently allowed Luttrell to continue responding to these Santa letters.
The United States Postal Service provides two programs in response to letters addressed to Santa Claus. According to Debbie Fetterly, head of media relations for the Alabama district of the United States Postal Service, these programs are Letters to Santa and Operation Santa.
Every year, Luttrell writes a new letter to send to the children of Auburn. Luttrell insists upon keeping the same format so children will know what to look for when waiting for their letter.
"There's probably a few of them that have gotten to the age or point where they are not believing, but I don't want to be the reason why they stop believing because they didn't get a letter, my letter, from Santa," Luttrell said.
Luttrell receives 70-80 letters from children each Christmas. This has grown considerably since Luttrell first began her response letters.
"You'll find one kid from the neighborhood send in a letter, and then a couple addresses down will send in one, and then a couple more addresses down will send in one," Luttrell said. "Once they know that their getting a letter back, you'll see a couple others respond."
Luttrell wanted a way for her child to receive a response letter from Santa Claus when her child began to write to him at the age of three. It was at this time when she decided to do it herself.
Luttrell has placed all postal carriers on notice to give her any Santa letters they find in mail boxes.
Turner has been fighting to allow Luttrell to continue her operation.
"All kids need hope, and when they receive a letter from Santa, I feel it makes their day," Turner said. "I have had children chase me down the street with their Santa letters."
The Letters to Santa program provided children with the opportunity to write and receive a response letter from Santa Claus. Parents must mail in the child's letter along with a response letter from Santa, which is written by the parents and placed in its own separate, stamped envelope. Both letters are then placed in a larger envelope and must be mailed via First-Class Mail or Priority Mail. The Santa letter, written by the parents, is postmarked "North Pole," then mailed back to the return address for the child to read.
Operation Santa is a program where postal workers and individuals "adopt" a needy child's Santa letter. These individuals then purchase as many items on the child's wish list as possible and return them to the post office ready to be mailed back to the child.
The post offices in the Auburn area do not participate in either of these programs.
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