With Christmas just around the corner, Albert Esquivel is putting in extra time on the job. Esquivel, postmaster for the United States Postal Service&#x2019;s Lee&#x2019;s Summit locations, is spending extra duty answering hundreds of letters from area youth addressed to Santa Claus. In true St. Nick fashion, Esquivel was adamant about not making a big deal about reading every single letter and answering each, but the father of five was gracious enough to take time to talk with <span class="italic">the Journal</span> about what really happens to those letters from children and young adults addressed to Kriss Kringle.</p><p> <span class="bold">The Journal: </span>How long have you been on the job?</p><p>Esquivel: Four years.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal:</span> Have you been answering letters to Santa for four years?</p><p>Esquivel: Yes.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal:</span> This time of the year, Santa gets a lot of different requests. Talk about the process of answering each letter.</p><p>Esquivel: The Post Office has a national Operation Santa program. Letters can be responded to on a national level. Here, locally, I just handle it locally as the postmaster for Lee&#x2019;s Summit. If I have a name and a return address, then the letters get responded to.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal: </span>How is it playing the role of Santa Claus in responding to the letters?</p><p>Esquivel: It&#x2019;s a good feeling. There are other volunteers that help throughout the city also &#x2013; letter carriers join in to help make sure the letters get responded to. We try to return letters to a child so that they can open a piece of mail that at least has their name on it.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal: </span>Have you ever read any &#x2018;Dear Santa&#x2019; letters that have kind of touched home a bit?</p><p>Esquivel: Every year there are some special ones that come through. You just say a prayer for them and you get a response back to them that hopefully gives them so hope and some cheer.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal: </span>Do you ever get any outrageous requests?</p><p>Esquivel: Hmmm, not too often. Just normal kids things &#x2013; iPad, iPhones, dolls; different kinds of things. I make no promises to kids that they are going to get something and put their parents in a bind. I tell them to keep listening to their parents and their teachers to be good and keep up with the holiday cheer. We respond to about 100, 150 letters.</p><p> <span class="bold">Journal:</span> Do you have to take time out of the course of your day to do this or is this a part of your job?</p><p>Esquivel: Each post office handles it differently and each postmaster handles it differently. My dad was a postmaster in a small town, so it was just one of those things that he pressed upon me. If there is something you need to do to help your community, then give back.