KAMLOOPS — With so many children writing letters to Santa Claus from all over the world, Santa needs a little extra help in responding.
In Kamloops, 86-year-old Izzy McQueen has been dutifully reading and responding to letters for 33 years, and loving every moment.
As always, she is determined to send a response to every single child’s letter to Santa she receives.
“I can’t not do a letter back to the kids, even if they’re late,” McQueen said. “And, if it’s late I’ll say sorry that Santa didn’t get your letter. This is why I stress to the teachers to get the letters in early and they’ve been doing this, which is a big help. So, we get them out as soon as we can.”
This year’s rotating postal worker strike has slowed down the rate at which McQueen received the letters.
“They were slow at coming,” she said. “They were slow at coming, but they are coming now.”
McQueen and her seven volunteers read every single letter, writing a personalized message to each child.
“It just makes their day,” she said. “The kids are so excited and even the teachers say the kids’ eyeballs are as big as saucers when they get a letter from Santa.”
The children’s letters are filled with Christmas gift ideas and reports on whether they have been good or bad this year.
But, many kids also write about their desire for peace.
“They’re worried about the wars, the fighting, why can’t people get along? And they say ‘make sure and help the street people and the dogs and the cats and what have you,’” McQueen said. “Sometimes I think the kids think more than the adults do.”
Even after 33 years, McQueen enjoys helping Santa out in this way.
“This makes Christmas for me, this is fun.”
