Sept. 11 effects seen in letters to Santa

"Mommy lost her job after Sept. 11, 2001," 6-year-old Paris wrote to Santa Claus. "Daddy works two jobs now. Please help."

In another is a second tall order: "My daddy just died and I am so sad," Lorie wrote. "Could you please help us this year and make us happy again? I don't want any presents."

Their somber requests are mixed with more traditional notes across the nation this year as children express a variety of emotions in letters addressed to the jolly man in the red suit.

At the Cape Girardeau mail processing center, the Santa letters -- most of them traditional and upbeat --continue to pour in as Christmas draws near. After all, he probably receives more personal mail than anyone.

"That's probably right," said Santa as he walked to his fireside chair at the Westfield Shoppingtown West Park. "But we have a pretty efficient system."

Each year, the Cape Girardeau postal center receives about 100 to 150 letters, most of then addressed simply to Santa Claus at the North Pole. One child seemed to know Santa's exact address: 1 Sleigh Drive, North Pole.

Many organizations across the country that accept letters to Santa are seeing the effect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the Christmas wishes of America's children. Several have seen requests for intangible gifts like safety, world peace and happiness, and some writers don't ask Santa to leave anything at all under the Christmas tree.

Stephen, a boy in Cape Girardeau, made a card for Santa and asked that he bring gifts just like last year's. "I think you're good," he wrote.

The letter sits atop a desk in the postmaster's office, next to the Christmas tree.

Santa said children often bring him drawings or cut out pictures of the gifts they want.

"It helps to make sure we get the right presents to the right kids," he said. "They've gotten very creative."

E-mails make the system even more efficient and Santa is learning to adapt in this electronic age, he said. "It speeds up the replies."

But the personal visits are important because that's how Santa hears about last-minute requests and anything forgotten when the letter was mailed. "It should be hand-delivered," Santa said.

Andy Lambros of Santa Claus Online, a Southern California-based company that accepts e-mails to Santa, said about 70 percent of this year's letters feature selfless, intangible wishes.

"Less kids are thinking 'me me me,' while the majority of children are thinking of the world as a whole," said Lambros, whose company receives thousands of Santa e-mail messages daily.

One girl, identified only as "Jenny," wrote: "I'm glad that I'm American and have a warm place to live. ... My wish this year is for all children to have peace and all the presents that they want."

Many of the letters received at the Cape Girardeau post office have return addresses. The volume doesn't appear affected by recent anthrax worries.

"They want the letters to get to Santa and we are the official correspondence," said Mike Keefe, postmaster.

Keefe admits that there could be a drop in correspondence as more children send e-mails to Santa, but all the letters that arrive are still answered -- either by a group at Southeast Missouri State University or the employees at the post office who work on Santa's behalf.

"We usually just reply and say that the letter has been received and sent on to Santa," Keefe said.

Some of the letters have envelopes handwritten by children. Others don't even have stamps, but Keefe said the postal service knows how to deliver them all.

Features editor Laura Johnston contributed to this report.