SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- The push is on to make sure your child's letters to Santa make it to the North Pole.
The US Postal Service announced it was dropping the "Operation Santa" program after a postal worker discovered that one of the organization's volunteers was a registered sex offender.
It's a holiday tradition that makes the season special to kids across the country.
"She figures out all the things she wants," said Brian Hilgers, whose little girl writes letters to Santa. "She's got 15 things on the list right now, and she's going to update it later."
For more than 50 years, the Postal Service has sent letters addressed to Santa to North Pole, Alaska, a small town that prides itself on the Christmas spirit. Volunteers help St. Nick write back to the children, and their letters are postmarked from the North Pole.
"I was floored," said 15-year-old Lauren Clement, who used to write to Santa every year. "Every time he would 'call,' I would almost pee my pants. It was just so amazing."
Parents were disgusted to find out a sex offender had infiltrated the system that brings joy to so many children.
"It's absolutely more than disgusting," said Hilgers. "It's the worst thing in the world."
Now, the Postal Service says generically addressed letters to "Santa Claus, North Pole," will no longer be forwarded to the volunteers in Alaska, which is what has happened in the past.
"I'm sad," said another parent, Laura Jorden. "I'm sad that the people who do so much good for other people have their work ruined by one person."
"Operation Santa" volunteers are quickly trying to come up with an alternative, so children's letters will still make it to the North Pole.
But until that happens, parents will have to be creative.
Obviously, they're not going to talk about sex offenders with their little ones," said soccer mom Patty Sapp. "They're probably just going to have to create something a little bit more magical, somehow, some way."
