ERIE, Colo. — The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Erie thanks in part to a mother's simple idea to spread joy in her neighborhood.
Ashley Siclair placed a mailbox in her neighborhood that stands in front of a park on Leyner Drive. The mailbox is labeled “North Pole Post." Children can write a letter to Santa Claus and put the letters into the mailbox.
“I think people are looking for light this time of year," she said. "This was a really inexpensive and simple way to bring that to people."
Siclair said she’s received around 50 letters since the start of December.
“It's been really cute — some of the letters are really heartfelt,” she said.
Sabrina Kolling's kids dropped their wish lists off over the weekend. She said her family writes letters to Santa every year.
“I just put them away and I just say, 'Oh I sent them to Santa. But this year, actually showing them it goes somewhere, it was priceless,” Kolling said.
Siclair then writes back to the child if there’s a return address and hand delivers the letter to their home within a day.
She'll continue to check the mailbox through Christmas. After reading through the letters, Siclair and her husband decided they may want to create a nonprofit for next Christmas, giving kids in need a gift off their wish list.
“Once we started reading the letters it was like — some of these gifts are really simple and easy to fulfill,” Siclair said.