HUDSON, Wis. — For the last five years, Richelle and Gary Jader have been more than just your average neighbor.
They're also Santa's helpers.
Outside their home in Hudson, Wisconsin is a bright red mailbox that children and adults alike put letters in to be mailed to the North Pole.
"There are many little letter campaigns going around the country and we are one that was asked to help," said Richelle. "It's really for Santa we do this."
The couple started taking on the task that their neighbors started, but who have since moved away. Every season they get several hundred letters, reaching the most during the height of the pandemic.
"It was just amazing in terms of the creativity and the heart," said Gary.
The two estimate they have received well over a 1,000 letters in all. They spend hours, several nights a week, responding to each one.
"We’re just hoping to enrich people’s lives and to get that spark of Christmas spirit and maybe have it last way beyond Christmas," said Richelle.
Some of the letters inspire laughter, others are sweet. The Jaders say they all spread cheer.
"I think we want to hear hope, that there is goodness out there, and this exemplifies goodness" said Richelle. "Kids are so pure in their words and what their wishes are that it gives me pause, it gives us pause, to say this is how we should be living."
The Jaders also published a book this year about the mailbox and have sold about 400 copies. You can find it on the shelves at Chapter 2 Books in Hudson or online.
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