Picture this. You’re in elementary school, it’s the beginning of December, and you’re sitting down at the kitchen table writing a letter to Santa. You give him your whole Christmas wishlist and tell him how good of a kid you’ve been this year. But how do you get your letter all the way to the North Pole for Santa to see it?

Put it in the Santa mailbox on the corner of 4th Street and Main in Downtown Rochester! This whole project is led by the Rochester Area Jaycees, which is a group of 21-40 year olds who focus on community service. Rochester High’s National English Honors Society (NEHS) has become very involved in this project, offering it as a point opportunity for the club and bringing in many volunteers to help participate.

“[The Jaycees] put a temporary wooden mailbox in Downtown Rochester and children can go down with their families and put their letter to Santa in the mailbox addressed to their house. To receive one back, the Jaycees will empty the mailbox and volunteers will choose a certain amount of letters to answer back to as “Santa” based on what they wrote in the letter. The letter will then be sent back to the child’s house,” Senior Megan Loren Co-Secretary of NEHS said.

The club felt that this project was a great point opportunity because they are an English Honors Society, so they’re always looking for activities that relate to the english language. It would help the community, share different writing skills, all while being festive for the holidays. Perfect!

“We are anticipating a mix of both Christmas wish lists from the children but also letters that are much more detailed such as things the kids love or are involved in. Sometimes they include pictures as well, so it will just be a variety. It’s so nice to see all the cute letters coming in from the kids!” Loren said.

There’s no right or wrong letter to send to Santa, so the volunteers will get a surprise with every new letter they receive! NEHS let their members know about this event via Remind and have further promoted the event at the meeting on Dec. 10. So far, quite a few members have signed up to volunteer for this fun project and are so excited to write back! This project is such a cute idea, yet it’s still english related for NEHS and a great way for students to give back to their community.

“I’m so excited to see how it goes, I think our members are really going to put effort into this. It’s just a great way to get more involved in the community and really spread Christmas cheer to kids who maybe aren’t getting the full experience this season due to COVID,” Loren said.