"Operation Santa" helping kids for Christmas

NEW YORK (NBC) - It's the time of year where children are putting pencil to paper and writing to Santa.

But this time around, many of the letters are coming from Hurricane Sandy victims.

The letter begins with a passionate ‘Dear Santa’, "My name is Alfe and I'm 11 years old and I've been really good this year."

What follows are often emotional requests for everything from model cars to miracle wishes.

"What I really want this year is that you return my mom's health so she won't be sick anymore."

Each holiday season, hundred of thousands of letters are sent from across the country to, well, Santa Claus.

And for a hundred years now, fulfilling some of those wishes has been a tradition of the U.S. Post Office.

Pete Fontana is “Chief Elf” of “Operation Santa” at New York’s main post office, where last year some 500,000 letters to ‘ole Saint Nick came through.

Each letter is opened, read, cataloged, then photocopied and offered to a willing “volunteer elf”.

For more than 25 years friends Beth and Nancy have been buying gifts for “Operation Santa”

"It’s the spirit of Christmas. I think kids deserve to have Santa come on Christmas morning and leave them something."

But in this year’s batch of letters, the devastation of Hurricane Sandy has some wishing to find just basic needs under their Christmas tree.

"Dear Santa Clause, my name is Kenya and I'm 8 years old. This year has been really difficult for our family and then hurricane came."

Dear Santa, my name is Justin. I'm 10 years old. I love to go to school Santa. I would like for you to get me a coat size 14.

Dear Santa, i am really sad because the hurricane made my mom and dad wasted a lot of money so they are not going to be able to buying me a gift for Christmas.

"I mean that kid can't be older than 6 or 7."

"Yeah, just the way it's written, you can see it's a very young kid."

Letters clearly telling the struggle of living in the disaster zone.

"Santa we have 3 weeks with no gas, light, water, heat."

Parents, trying to keep the Christmas spirit alive in a place where simply survive has become the priority.

A single mother herself, Alexa Donaphin sees the need in letters she answers each year,

"They want to do for their children what I wanted to do for my child and they deserve to have the same kind of Christmas."

And now, her grown daughter and family make “Operation Santa” their holiday tradition.

"Actually our family doesn't even exchange presents anymore, we've stopped that and we're doing more of this."

More is a feeling shared by other letters, “elves”.

"I started with one and this year I'm up to two and hopefully next year it will be three."

Just everyday volunteers who understand the true meaning of Christmas.

There are 26 post offices across the country that take part in "Operation Santa"...

To find one near you and become an "elf" yourself, visit BEANELF.ORG .