Almonte business to deliver letters to Santa

As the Canada Post strike enters it's third week with no end in site, many Canadians are wondering if their Christmas wish lists will get to the North Pole this year.

Carmelle Barber and her infant daughter are looking forward to putting their Christmas Wish List in the mail and send it to Santa Claus.

"This is technically her second Christmas, but her first one that she's really understanding, so she's really excited about it," she said.

Writing letters to Santa is an annual tradition for many families, and for over 40 years Canada Post’s Santa Letter Program has helped deliver them to the North Pole. However, this year, letters to The Man in Red could be left out in the cold.

Leading up to Christmas, Santa Claus receives tons letters from all over the world with nearly 1.5 million of those letters from Canadians. With over 55,000 postal workers on strike, it has left many to wonder if their letters will get to Santa at all.

This where a couple of Santa’s helpers from just outside of Almonte, Ont. have sprung into action.

"I have four girls myself and over the years, it's always been our favourite tradition to write Santa letters," said Katrina Morrison, owner of the indoor playground To the Moon and Back.

Morrison and one of her daughters are stepping in to help get letters to Santa for kids in the Ottawa and eastern Ontario area.

"We were disappointed to hear that might not happen this year," said Morrison. "So, we thought we have the base here, lots of children come and play. So, let's just pop a mailbox out and then we can help them with the replies to each child."

You can find templates on how to send your Christmas letters on the To The Moon And Back social media pages.

"We're going to try and make them as personalised as possible, and then we're going to sort (the letters) into all the different towns that come in," added Morrison.

"We hope to have people from Carleton Place, Stittsville and Kanata. We'll just make sure they're all delivered back to the children in time for Christmas.

"I think it's fantastic," said Barber. "We love it here. We drove here from Carlton Place just to make sure (my daughter's) letter came here to get to Santa."

You can place your letters to Santa in the mailbox outside To the Moon and Back at 341 Frank Davis St. by Dec. 16 to get a response back in time for Christmas.