A teenager in Shelley, Idaho, who wants to make Christmas magical for children recently got a big surprise from a Secret Santa.
Annalei saved her own money for over a year to purchase a mailbox so children could send their letters to Santa Claus. She finally found and bought the perfect one, East Idaho News reported Saturday.
She has been asking Santa if the mailbox can be labeled a certified dropbox so the elves can gather the notes each night.
Another magical part about her mission is that if those letters have a return address, Santa will reply.
Writing a letter to Santa has long been a tradition all over the world and in the United States, “Children begin mailing their letters to Santa during the weeks leading up to Christmas. History shows that the US Post Office began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than 100 years ago,” according to Byer’s Choice.
Video footage from 2018 shows the USPS “elves” sorting those special letters:
Last year, a strong wind blew Annalei’s mailbox over, leaving it broken in several places. Although she and her father tried to mend it, the box continues to leak and its lights no longer work.
A replacement is expensive, so when the outlet’s Nate Eaton knocked on her door with $500 for office supplies to respond to the letters for Santa, $500 for purchases a craft store, and $1,000 for a replacement mailbox, she was shocked.
“Now that’s a thousand dollars for you to go buy a new mailbox,” Eaton told the young woman, whose face showed her surprise.
“Thank you,” she said, to which Eaton replied, “You’re welcome. Thank you for doing what you’re doing.” He also suggested she might now get an influx of letters.
Social media users expressed their joy over the surprise, one person writing, “She is such a sweet Angel to think of these kids like this! She Rocks!”
“One elf helping another elf,” another replied.
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