Iowa Couple Gives Santa a Helping Hand Answering All Those Christmas Letters

For the fourth year in a row, a couple in Iowa is helping Santa Claus, who is a very busy man right now, by answering Christmas letters from hopeful children.

Bryce and Austin Charlton started the season a little early at their home in Grimes, where a special mailbox sits on their front lawn that offers a direct conduit to the jolly old man at the North Pole.

“We really want this to take off, not for us, not for the publicity, just for the joy it brings,” said Bryce Charlton. “We got about 130 letters the first year, over 400 the second year, and about 180 last year,” he said.

“Rhode Island, Vermont and a lot of them were local,” Bryce said.

Austin chimed in that letters also come from, “Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, New York ... So it’s really cool to see people here spreading it out to other states,” he said.

The couple have a special little helper this season, a 2-year-old son they adopted earlier this year.

“I think he would love it when he gets older to realize what we’ve put into helping Santa,” Austin said.

The address for Santa’s Iowa mailbox is 100 NE 22nd Circle in Grimes, 50111.

The deadline to receive a specialized response is Dec. 18.

Related Stories