For four years, Crown Ace has offered a magical North Pole Express mailbox at each location. Simply drop in a letter, including a stamped and self-addressed envelope, and a reply with come for free direct form the North Pole. One little girl, three-year-old Alexa Martinez, shares her heartfelt letter to the jolly old elf.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth year in a row, locally-owned Crown Ace Hardware is offering children and adults alike a North Pole Express mailbox to drop off their wish-filled letters to Santa Claus. With a stamped, self-addressed envelope included by December 1, the writer will get a response for free.
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"Year over year, we are amazed by the response of our customers and community," said Crown Ace Hardware President Mark Schulein. "The season is all about joy, and we are thrilled as a family-run company to be able to treat our customers like family, to give back to our community, and spread holiday cheer to the kids."
This is the fourth year Crown Ace is offering the North Pole Express mailbox at its stores. Thousands of letters have poured in during the last few years of the program, and almost 2,000 of those writers requested and received responses from the jolly old elf.
No postage is necessary for a drop-off, and all letters will go straight to Santa's workshop, Schulein said. If a stamped, self-addressed envelope is included with the letter to Santa, a response will be sent direct from the North Pole before Christmas.
Raquel Martinez used the letter writing experience as a teaching tool for her three-year-old daughter Alexa. "I thought it was a great opportunity to reinforce good character traits," said Martinez. "We discussed how we needed to be honest with Santa and tell him that she hasn't been making good choices. I reinforced the idea of making better choices with behavior in order for her to earn only some of the many gifts she mentioned. I know she's learning from this whole process because on various occasions she mentions that Santa is watching."
Because Santa gets so many letters this time of year, writers must drop off their letters with a stamped and self-addressed envelope by December 1st if they desire a response. Otherwise, Crown Ace will still welcome any letters to be dropped off in the mailbox through Christmas Eve.
Schulein said parents call just to let him know how excited the children were to receive their letters.
"We were told by the elves that the letters have been very touching, indeed," Schulein said. "Children wrote with their lists, of course, but many just had questions about the reindeer or wanted to wish the big man Merry Christmas. A few kids even admitted to being 'a little bit naughty' that year and wrote to apologize. Parents requested letters for children in the hospital, a woman wrote on behalf of her elderly mother so she would get a letter to brighten her day. A grandmother dropped off ten or more letters so her grandchildren would get a special surprise! We have been honored to help facilitate the Christmas spirit in this way."
Schulein owns 14 stores in southern California, eight of which are in Orange County, and two in Arizona. A listing of all Crown locations is available at www.crownace.com.
SOURCE Crown Ace Hardware
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