'Tis the season! Annual Letters to Santa campaign has started
MOUNT DORA — Linda and Jeanette Bokland's “Letters to Santa” project has become a holiday tradition for local families.
Every year, kids are invited to drop off their letters to Santa in a certified mailbox, a landing point before they get shipped off to the North Pole. But the Boklands have made this an extra special experience as the kids receive a return letter from Mrs. Claus.
“This year, we’ve got a real mailbox for people to drop off their letters,” Jeanette said. “The one was used before was just meant to be a prop and we had some issues with letters getting wet, so we set out to find a real one.”
The Boklands had some help decorating the new mailbox. Thanks to Joe Ziler of Kevco Builders and Wrap Masters of Central Florida, the mailbox is fully wrapped and ready to receive letters.
And they're already pouring in.
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Going that extra mile
The Boklands never really intended on receiving letters for Santa. But three years ago, they decorated their home for Christmas and had a prop Santa mailbox for decoration. They noticed that letters began appearing in it from kids who wanted to get their letter in front of the Fat Man himself.
So they went with it.
“We thought it would be cute to write these kids back from Mrs. Claus and it just escalated from there,” Linda said.
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Last year, the couple received more than 500 letters which all received responses thanks to Team Elf, a group of volunteers that get together at the Boklands' home to write responses. Although each response is stamped with a custom North Pole stamp, one of the volunteers goes an extra mile and takes the letters to Christmas, Florida so the postmark say they are from Christmas.
This year, letters should be dropped off by Dec. 21 at their home at 201 W. 11th St. in Mount Dora to ensure a response by Christmas. Participants should include a return mailing address but no postage is necessary.
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‘You’re the letters to Santa lady’
Since they started their project, the Boklands have become local celebrities of sorts.
“It’s amazing how people will stop us and say ‘You’re the letters to Santa lady,’” Linda said. “Schools have already contacted us to make field trips to let the kids drop off their letters. Young and old enjoy to do it. Some make little gifts for Santa. It just brings that Christmas spirit and now people are counting on it.”
Just this week, she said a woman stopped her in the parking lot and asked if she was the Santa letter lady.
“I told her 'Yes, that’s me,'” Linda said. “She went on to tell me how much she appreciated what we do and that her son is autistic and they do it together every year. That’s why we do what we do each year.”
This Christmas will look a little different for Jeanette. In February, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and is undergoing treatment. But it’s positive vibes only as she is pressing on to make this a fabulous Christmas for the kids.
“I’m really thankful for our Team Elf in helping us again this year,” Jeanette said. “There’s no use worrying about what you can’t control so we are focusing on being positive about those things we can.”
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Mailbox is open: Mount Dora 'Letters to Santa' campaign has started
