During the busy holiday season, even Santa Claus himself could use a little extra help.
Iowa may not be anywhere near the North Pole, but the mailbox on the front lawn of Bryce and Austin Charlton is a direct line to the Jolly Old Elf himself! For the past four years, the couple has acted as Santa’s surrogate elves, answering hundreds of letters from children of all ages.
The couple started the annual tradition four years ago, hoping to bring a little more joy to the world around them. While many kids’ letters to Santa go unanswered, any child who mails a letter using the Charlton’s special mailbox is guaranteed to get a response.
Psst! Kids, for future years, that address is 100 NE 22nd Circle in Grimes, Iowa, 50111.
While Bruce and Austin are glad for publicity because it enables them to extend their magic to more children, they’re not doing this for attention or praise. They simply saw an opportunity to perform a kindness and keep hope alive, and they took it.
“We really want this to take off, not for us, not for the publicity, just for the joy it brings,” Bryce explained. “We got about 130 letters the first year, over 400 the second year, and about 180 last year.”
The couple added that they don’t just get letters from children in Iowa.
“Rhode Island, Vermont, and a lot of them were local,” the couple said. “They were even Urbandale, Ankeny, Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, New York we got one from. So, it’s really cool to see that people here are spreading it to other states.”
This year, Austin and Bryce have a new little elf of their own! They adopted a 2-year-old son earlier in 2022, and they’re excited to share their tradition of kindness with him as he grows older.
There’s a shortage of helpful elves in the world, so it’s good to know this family is helping Santa out!
Don’t forget to share this story to celebrate Christmas kindness.
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