雙語|今年美國“聖誕老人行動”轉至線上 人人皆可參與

由於新冠肺炎疫情肆虐，今年美國郵政總局的“聖誕老人行動”將全部轉移到網上。全美各地的人們都可以在網上閱讀聖誕願望郵件，匿名送出禮物，當一回在線版聖誕老人，爲疫情中的聖誕節增加一些節日的快樂和溫情。

For more than a century, it was a simple way of making a child’s dreams come true during Christmas. Volunteers could go to the post office, sift through piles of letters that children had sent to Santa Claus and pick one — or more — that tugged at their heartstrings. Gifts were then acquired, wrapped and shipped to families whose space beneath the tree might otherwise be bare.

一個多世紀以來，這一直是讓孩子們在聖誕節夢想成真的一種簡單方法。志願者可以去郵局，從孩子們寄給聖誕老人的一堆堆信件中挑出一封或多封感動他們的信件。然後他們會收集禮物，包裝好，運送到那些聖誕樹下可能空無一物的家庭。

sift [sɪft]：vt./vi.篩選

With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, however, the US Postal Service announced Monday that it was taking its annual “Operation Santa” campaign nationwide, and that letters to Santa could be read exclusively online by people across the country.

然而，隨着新冠疫情的肆虐，美國郵政總局11月16日宣佈，一年一度的“聖誕老人行動” 今年將在全美各地開展，而且寄給聖誕老人的信件將由全美各地的人們在網上閱讀。

Some things aren’t changing: Much as it had over the past 108 years, the Postal Service said that it was inviting American children to write letters and to mail them to the North Pole, using a special address and ZIP code and affixing the proper postage.

有些事情沒有改變：就像過去108年裡一樣，美國郵政總局表示，將邀請美國兒童寫信並寄往北極，這些信件使用特殊的地址和郵政編碼，並貼上適當的郵資。

This year, however, the letters will be uploaded to the Operation Santa website, so long as they are legible and make specific requests for items like toys, clothes or games. Starting December 4, postal customers can then read them and choose to send gifts with their responses, with a signature saying it’s from Santa.

但今年，只要內容清晰可讀，並提出具體的禮物要求，如玩具、衣服或遊戲等，這些信件將被上傳到“聖誕老人行動”網站上。從12月4日開始，郵政客戶可以閱讀這些郵件，並選擇將回信連同禮物一起寄出去，並簽上聖誕老人的大名。

“Covid-19 has caused undue hardships, both financial and emotional, to so many Americans this year,” Kimberly Frum, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service, said in an email. “The program provides kids and families with an opportunity to receive gifts during the holidays from anonymous, generous postal customers.”

美國郵政總局的發言人金伯利·弗魯姆在一封電子郵件中說：“今年暴發的新冠肺炎讓如此多的美國人遭受了經濟和情感上的過多困難。這個活動爲孩子和家庭提供了一個在節日期間從慷慨的匿名郵政客戶那裡收禮物的機會。”

Those customers used to review the letters in person, but Operation Santa has moved largely online in recent years after a pilot program in 2017. By 2019, the online operation had expanded to 15 cities, including New York, Chicago, Denver and Grand Rapids, Michigan, to, “enhance the ability for generous people across the nation to help those in need no matter where they live,” Frum said.

這些客戶過去通常會親自查看信件，但在2017年的一個試點項目後，“聖誕老人行動”近年來已經基本上轉移到了網上。弗魯姆說，到2019年，在線活動已經擴展到15個城市，包括紐約、芝加哥、丹佛和密歇根州大急流城等地，“以擴大全國各地慷慨的人們對那些有需要的人提供幫助的能力範圍，不管他們住在哪裡”。

So-called legacy programs still operated in New York and Chicago, where customers could go to a post office to read letters in person, but those programs will not be offered this year because of the pandemic, Frum said.

弗魯姆說，所謂的遺產項目仍在紐約和芝加哥實施，客戶可以到郵局親自閱讀信件，但由於新冠疫情，今年將不提供這一服務。

Widespread job losses have contributed to a situation in which 1 in 8 families don’t have enough to eat. Though jobs have started to return, with last month’s jobs report showing a full percentage point drop in the unemployment rate, the number of long-term unemployed people — those out of work for more than half a year — rose by 50% to 3.6 million. And a steep increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks threatens those fragile economic gains.

大規模失業造成美國八分之一的家庭食物不足。儘管就業形勢已開始好轉，上個月的就業報告顯示失業率下降了整整一個百分點，但長期失業人數（即失業半年以上的人數）上升了50%，達到360萬人。最近幾周新冠肺炎病例的急劇增加威脅到了這些脆弱的經濟成果。

The Postal Service said the Operation Santa program had received hundreds of thousands of letters each year.

美國郵政總局表示，“聖誕老人行動”每年都會收到數十萬封信件。

“It seems like a small thing,” Frum said. “But for anyone who is struggling, it’s a huge deal to be able to give or receive a gift and share in a bit of the joy that is the holiday season.”

弗魯姆說：“這似乎是一件小事，但對於那些正在苦苦掙扎的人來說，能夠送出或收到一份禮物，分享節日裡的一點快樂非常重要。”