Month: December 2016

Though the holiday season can be fraught with stress and a last-minute to-do list, it’s also a time of extreme generosity—a month-plus of merriment that often sees total strangers reaching out to lend a helping hand in the name of humanity and the spirit of the season. From anonymous donations to charitable flash mobs, here are 20 such stories from this holiday season.

1. MALL SANTA LEARNS SIGN LANGUAGE SO THAT HE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ALL KIDS

Every kid deserves to tell Santa exactly what he or she wants for Christmas, but deaf children can have a difficult time communicating with their local St. Nick. Not kids in Racine, Wisconsin: The Santa at Racine’s Regency Mall knows sign language. He signs with kids who are hearing impaired, so that he can ask them—and they can tell him—what they want for Christmas. Because the warm fuzzy feelings of the holidays don’t just come from getting the right present—they come from feeling like part of a loving, inclusive community.

2. MOM BATTLING CANCER IS SURPRISED WITH A FLASH MOB DONATION

When Amanda Kofoed, a 30-year-old Idaho woman, discovered that she had stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this fall, she had to put her teaching degree on hold and prepare for six months of chemotherapy treatments. When she worried aloud to friends about her lack of insurance, as well as the future of her four young children, a group called the PRAYnksters (which is known for staging random acts of kindness) stepped in with a plan. They took Amanda and her husband, Clint, to a coffee shop, ostensibly to help them film a GoFundMe video. But as the camera rolled, nearly 200 children and adults flooded the coffee shop, all piling cash on the table as Amanda and her husband fought back tears. Amanda received more than $13,000 that day, and her GoFundMe has more than doubled its goal amount thus far.

3. “LAYAWAY ANGEL” PAYS OFF NEARLY $200,000 IN BALANCES AT WALMART

An anonymous angel visited three Pennsylvania Walmarts this month, paying out thousands of dollars at each location to clear strangers’ layaway balances. In the last two weeks, the donor has left $74,000 in Harrisburg; $46,000 in Lebanon County; and another $46,000 in Everett, for a total of $166,000 of erased debt. “When customers quietly pay off others’ layaway items, we’re reminded of how good people can be,” a Walmart representative told ABC27 News. “The joy that comes from these transactions extends well beyond dollars and cents. We’re honored to be a small part in these random acts of kindness.”

4. RESTAURANT OFFERS FREE CHRISTMAS MEALS TO LONDON’S ELDERLY AND HOMELESS POPULATIONS

The holidays will be a little bit brighter this year for some of London’s lonelier residents, thanks to a Turkish restaurant opening its doors on Christmas Day. Shish Restaurant in southeast London posted a note on its window in November with the message: “No one eats alone on a Christmas Day! We are here to sit with you … Any homeless or elderly are welcomed.”

The restaurant’s owner got the idea to offer a free three-course meal to those with nowhere else to go when an elderly woman walked into his eatery last month. She was looking for someone to help her close her window, and also mentioned that she would be spending Christmas alone this year. Inspired to help her and others like her, the restaurant staff shared the message that they would be welcoming the community’s homeless and elderly members on Christmas Day. Many people were touched by the story; so far, approximately 50 people have volunteered to cook, clean, and drive people to the restaurant.

5. LIBRARY GIFT-WRAPPING EVENTS RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY

Here’s a solution that benefits the gift-wrapping-challenged and charity to boot: At two libraries, teens are wrapping gifts to raise money for charitable causes. The Fairborn Library in Fairborn, Ohio held a “Gift Wrap Extravaganza” on December 19 to benefit the Fairborn Food Pantry, and on December 15 and 16 at the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton, New Hampshire, teens from two local schools wrapped gifts in exchange for donations to benefit charities End 68 Hours of Hunger and the NHSPCA.

6. HOSPITAL WORKER SAVES ALL YEAR IN ORDER TO BUY TOYS FOR SICK CHILDREN

Each Christmas for the past eight years, Jessie Tenyani, a cafeteria worker at Chicago’s Advocate Trinity Hospital, has bought thousands of dollars worth of toys for all of the children at the hospital, the state’s largest pediatric care facility. She sets aside part of her paycheck each month, and this year, she took Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday off from the hospital, rented a U-Haul, and bought $5000 worth of dolly buggies, electric keyboards, soccer balls, and other toys to distribute to kids of all ages at Christmas. “I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to serve these children,” Tenyani told Good Morning America. “I feel great and I feel at peace because what I do is to put a smile on the face of a child who is going through so much, whatever the pain they might go through.”

7. SECRET SANTA PAYS OFF LUNCH BALANCES

The spirit of the season is alive and well at HW Good Elementary School in Herminie, Pennsylvania. Earlier this month, a generous secret Santa wrote the school a check for more than $900 to clear the overdue lunch balances of 44 children. The only thing the do-gooder asked for in return was to remain anonymous. “Sometimes, all we see are the sad things going on in the world, so it’s really, really nice to know there are great people out there who would give up their things to help others,” the school’s principal, Amy Larcinese, told ABC News.

8. WESTJET THROWS PARTY FOR PEOPLE WHO LOST HOMES IN WILDFIRES

It has been over seven months since the Fort McMurray wildfire in Canada devastated about 20 percent of the homes in the area, but there’s still a lot of healing and rebuilding to do. The airline company WestJet generously stepped in to provide the people of Fort McMurray with some much-needed holiday cheer. The airline threw a Christmas party for the town’s residents that was stocked with all the fixings of a great time: 500 stockings, 300 pounds of candy, and 348 parachutes holding special gifts inside. Nearly 50 WestJet employees—who were moonlighting as elves—arrived to help make the party a success. According to WestJet, 826 Fort Murray citizens took part in the celebration.

9. LOCAL BUSINESS GIVES WOMAN A NEW ROOF FOR CHRISTMAS

The roof of Cathy Barker’s home in Jackson, Tennessee is falling apart. Barker, a longtime employee of the Kroger grocery chain, has been battling cancer and hasn’t had the money to repair it. Now she won’t have to: In early December, representatives from the roofing manufacturers at Reed’s Metals surprised Barker at work with the news that out of 100 applicants, she had won the company’s “Covering our Community” award, and they’d install her new roof—worth as much as $6000—before Christmas. Her sons, who’d nominated her for the award, hugged her, and her co-workers cheered.

“It’s really great,” a teary Barker told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News.

Barker isn’t the only one who will receive a free roof from Reed’s Metals, which has 10 locations in five states. The company says it will provide a free roof to five others, including Baldwyn, Mississippi resident Bobbie Lou Hill.

10. SHELTER EMPLOYEES WILL DELIVER ADOPTED ANIMALS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

Getting a pet on Christmas morning is an incredible experience for any animal lover, but it can be hard to orchestrate the sudden arrival of a new dog or cat. In Franklin, Tennessee, local shelter employees are more than happy to serve as Santa’s elves. Staff members at the Williamson County Animal Center have volunteered to get up early on Christmas morning and deliver any animals adopted between December 17 and December 24, making sure that lucky pet-parents-to-be get the best Christmas surprise imaginable.

11. “FOOD FOR FINES” PROGRAMS FORGIVE LIBRARY AND PARKING FEES IN EXCHANGE FOR FOOD BANK DONATIONS

Cities across the country are turning delinquent fees into charitable donations with “food for fines” programs. The concept began in Lexington, Kentucky two years ago, when the city offered citizens a sweet holiday deal: donate 10 cans of nonperishable food and get $15 off a parking ticket. The program was a huge success, netting more than 6000 items for a local food bank. This year, officials say, they’re on track to beat that record.

Parking enforcement offices and libraries across the country have taken up the torch, swapping overdue fees and parking fines for canned corn and tuna.

“It’s wonderful to see organizations like LEXPARK engage with our food bank in creative ways to fight hunger and deliver hope,” one food bank executive told Kentucky Forward.

12. FAMILY DELIVERS RECORD NUMBER OF GIFTS TO RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE

In 2015, Marion and Jason Sanford spent nearly six months living at the Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon, Canada, while their 5-year-old son Rhett underwent surgery following an ATV crash on their family farm. Rhett’s 6-year-old brother, Blaine, was also involved in the crash and tragically died on the way to the hospital. Last December, after Rhett made a slow but full recovery, the family began a “new Christmas tradition” of donating toys to the place that showed them so much kindness during their time of need.

This year, Marion and Jason teamed up with Innovation Credit Union to up the ante: They established 28 drop-off locations across the province, where people could leave donations. As a result, the family filled an entire Mack truck with gifts—the most the Saskatoon Ronald McDonald House has ever received. Of her charitable spirit, Marion told CBC News, “Part of the reason I do this is because I want my son [Blaine] to be proud of me. He would be so excited to be part of this.”

13. MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY DECKS THE HALLS FOR A WIDOW IN NEED

After the passing of her husband in February, Amesbury, Massachusetts, resident Jeanne Hallisey couldn’t muster the energy to decorate her house for Christmas. “I wanted the lights up but didn’t have any holiday spirit at all,” Hallisey told the Daily News of Newburyport.

Hallisey solicited help stringing lights and garlands on Facebook, and was overjoyed when dozens of neighbors—armed with coffee, doughnuts, and hand warmers—answered her call. Included in the do-gooders were a handful of players on the Amesbury High School football team and an electrician who made sure all the wiring was safe.

14. SHIRTLESS RUGBY PLAYERS RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY IN BELFAST

Bare-chested members of the Bangor Rugby Club sang carols at Corn Market in Belfast, Northern Ireland earlier this month to raise money for Action Cancer and other charities. In the video above, you can hear coins dropping into donation bins and see a particularly animated “conductor” leading them along. The club hopes to raise about $5000 for charity—which is nothing to shake a Santa hat at.

15. BEST BUY WORKERS CHIP IN TO BUY A WII U FOR A LOCAL TEEN

Employees at a Best Buy in Valley Stream, New York recently pulled off a sweet game plan. After the staff noticed that a local teen made daily trips to their location just to play one of the Nintendo Wii U systems on display, they chipped in to get him a console of his own, CNN reported. “Consider it an early Christmas present,” one employee told the speechless teen when they revealed the $300 gift. The group also added a new copy of Super Smash Bros., a game he often plays in store—and a ride home. According to Inside Edition, the teen was nervous and making the trek home with his expensive gift.

16. STUDENTS COLLECT GIFTS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

Students at Culleoka Unit School in Culleoka, Tennessee are organizing a gift drive for seniors living in local nursing homes. They’re collecting unwrapped gifts right in their K-12 school, located in central Tennessee. Among the suggested donations: adult coloring books, puzzles, toiletries, robes, blankets, stuffed animals, and radios.

Nowhere near Culleoka and want to bring some joy to a senior this holiday season? Google is your friend. There are similar programs across the country, including the Share the Love campaign in Thousand Oaks, California; a gift drive in North Fulton, Georgia, for elderly Meals on Wheels participants; and the Adopt a Senior program in the metro New York City region. There’s also the national “Be a Santa to a Senior” program, administered by Home Instead Senior Care. Its program in Delaware could really use your help: It’s about 1500 gifts short of its goal.

17. STOLEN DONATION LEADS TO A MUCH LARGER DONATION

Earlier this month, Melissa McMonigle, an English teacher at Ohio’s Northmont High School, was shocked when she discovered that $164 of the $194 her students had raised for a local family in need had been stolen right from her desk. “I was so sad and so disheartened,” McMonigle said. “And my students were angry when they found out.” While that easily could have been the end of the story, what began as a theft turned into a community-wide act of kindness when, according to McGonigle, “Within a 24-hour period, teachers started handing me money in the parking lot. Students who aren’t even [in my classes] started handing me money the hallways. There were parents who came into the main office and asked if they could give money to Miss McMonigle for the needy family. It was happening all day long.” As of December 9, McMonigle’s students and colleagues had raised more than $800.

18. TEXAS POLICE DEPARTMENT ISSUES UNUSUAL TRAFFIC CITATIONS

Police in Godley, Texas, are offering a fast track off the naughty list this holiday season. In lieu of fines for minor traffic violations, Mashable reports that officers are handing out “tickets” asking recipients to donate presents to the police department’s toy drive. Police chief Jason Jordan told Mashable the department has “probably handed out a couple hundred” so far, and added that he’s currently figuring out a way to carry the program through to the New Year with clothing and school supply donations.

19. POLICE DEPARTMENT PAYS IT FORWARD

When 6-year-old Landon Naumann’s bicycle was recently stolen, he and his mom went to the police station to report the crime. The officer who took the report thought the boy looked familiar—and then he realized why: Landon had previously made a visit to the local police station to drop off goodie bags for the local police force to thank them for all that they do for the local community. There was even a picture of Landon and his goodie bags on the wall. So the police officers reached into their own pockets to purchase a new bike for the boy, which they presented to him as a birthday gift.

20. TEENAGER BUILDS LIGHT DISPLAY TO BENEFIT MAKE A WISH

While a charitable spirit at any age is something to be admired, there’s something extra special about a young do-gooder—and that’s just what 18-year-old Jordan Maywald is. The Austin, Texas high school senior tapped into the holiday spirit by creating an elaborate, 50,000 light display at his home. But this wasn’t a case of Maywald simply trying to emulate Clark Griswold: He posted a Make-A-Wish donation box outside his home, so that in addition to admiring his twinkling handiwork, those who come to gawk at the display can also make a donation to the nonprofit organization. “There’s no better feeling than giving money to them for children who are ill so they can go on a vacation or something they want it’s just very heartwarming to us,” Maywald said. He’s hoping to raise $5000 this holiday season.

India is home to the world’s largest population of blind people and not nearly enough optometrists to provide the care the country needs. But recently, some doctors there have been receiving help in the fight against eye disease from an unexpected source. As Mashable reports, machine learning is being used to better understand the spread of blindness and predict the success rates of eye surgeries.

The initiative is part of a collaboration between Microsoft and the Indian not-for-profit LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). At the center of the project are their Azure machine learning and Power BI services: After analyzing the anonymous records of 1.1 million people, the AI system can trace patterns of eye disease. Doctors can then use projections of surgical outcomes for certain types of patients to make informed decisions on how to treat them.

On December 19, Microsoft announced partnerships with the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, the Flaum Eye Institute at the University of Rochester, the Federal University of Sao Paulo, and the Brien Holden Vision Institute in Australia. The company plans to continue working with eye doctors to examine new data and zero in on how to help blind children in particular, 200,000 to 700,000 of whom live in India.

Equipping doctors to treat visual impairments is just one of machine learning’s many potential medical applications. Earlier this year, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School taught an AI system to detect breast cancer with near-human accuracy.

[h/t Mashable]

If the holiday season makes visions of sugar plums dance in your head, the caloric austerity plan you have in mind for the new year will feel like a rude awakening. Between snacks, drinks, and the main meal, the average American consumes over 4500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone, and with a calendar full of holiday parties, this over-indulgent lifestyle usually persists until January 1.

For anyone who’s planning to pursue a fitness- and health-related New Year’s resolution, it’s important to start preparing before the clock strikes midnight on December 31—it’s nearly impossible to make a drastic lifestyle change at the drop of a hat. Use these expert tips to get a head-start on your fitness goals in order to maximize your success.

1. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE DEDICATION NEEDED TO MAKE A CHANGE.

It takes a lot of patience and persistence to follow through on your fitness goals. “The problem that most people run into is that they don’t think through what they’re getting into,” says Dean Gavindane, a certified personal trainer and CEO of SuperMe Performance.

Gavindane says that underestimating the level of commitment needed to stick to a new fitness routine is common because people see their fitness goals “as a sprint instead of a marathon.” Understanding that your new diet and workout routine won’t achieve results overnight is the first step to shedding pounds and toning up.

2. START COUNTING YOUR CALORIES.

Losing weight is a simple math problem: Eat fewer calories than you burn each day. In order to count calories effectively, you therefore need to know how many you are taking in through your food as well as how many you are expelling when you exercise. Use a fitness tracker and a calorie-counting app to help you make smart snacking choices during the holidays.

3. KEEP A FOOD DIARY.

Jen Hazzard, cross country coach and adjunct chemistry and physics professor at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, has her clients keep a food diary where they record what they eat on a daily basis, using each day as a benchmark for the next. She says the diary is a way to be honest with yourself and to change the way you think about your nutrition changes. “I avoid the term diet,” says Hazzard. “It suggests giving up things you love for things you don’t like. You should never make fitness about denial, but about finding a middle ground. A good start to finding that middle ground is treating certain meals like rewards.”

Hazzard also says that by cutting out processed and junk foods, you’d be surprised at the quantity of healthy food you can consume without gaining weight. There’s no shame in filling up the pages of your food diary as long as they’re healthy foods.

4. STICK IT OUT FOR 66 DAYS.

Hazzard has also worked as a consultant for a wellness program called Commit to 66, which is based on a 2009 study that showed the average length of time it took participants to form a new habit was 66 days [PDF]. It’s important to remember that 66 days was the study’s average, so it may take you more or less time. What’s important is setting a long-term goal to help you curb your impulses as well as keep from getting discouraged.

5. DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT WITH FITNESS.

It’s easy to get in a rut at the gym (do you head to the elliptical every time you’re there?), but keeping an open mind about your physicality and trying new things is an important part of shedding weight. “Simple yet effective exercises and workouts can be done in several different ways depending upon the time allowed and equipment provided,” says Tiffany Tatlock, a certified personal trainer, meal planner, and competitive bodybuilder.

6. INCORPORATE BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS INTO YOUR ROUTINE AT HOME.

If a gym isn’t available for you (or if it feels sub-Arctic outside and you can’t bear to leave the warmth of your home) it’s still possible to get in a great workout, no equipment required. Here are some body-weight circuits that Tatlock has suggested that can be performed at home and aren’t very time-consuming.

Set 1:
Floor Touch Squats (10 reps)
Wide-Grip Push-Ups (10 reps)
Squat Jumps (10 reps)
Full Tuck Crunch (10 reps)
Rest (60 seconds)

Set 2:
Forward and Backward Lunge (10 reps each leg)
Tricep Dips (10 reps)
High Knee Skips (10 reps each leg)
Bicycle Crunch (30 seconds)
Rest (60 seconds)

Set 3:
Flutter Kicks (30 seconds)
Swimming Plank (10 reps each side)
Diagonal Squat Thrust (5 reps each side)
Toe Touch Beetle Crunch (10 reps)
Rest (60 seconds)

Set 4:
Lateral Lunges (10 reps each leg)
Close-Grip Push-Ups (10 reps)
Single-Leg Skater Squat (10 reps each leg)
Vertical Leg Lift (10 reps)
Rest (60 seconds)

Set 5:
Plank (30 seconds)
Skydiver (30 seconds)
Tick-Tock Squats (10 reps each leg)
Spinal Rock-Up (10 reps)
Rest (60 seconds)

Completing sets one through five marks one round, and Tatlock advises performing up to five rounds in your workout session. “Effective and great workouts are all about giving it your all,” says Tatlock. “Typically, three to four of these sessions per week can be effective when the gym isn’t achievable.”

Standing at the helm of the Santa Maria off the coast of Bermuda in 1492, Christopher Columbus was captivated by a faint light “like the light of a wax candle moving up and down” in the water. At first, he mistook it for a sign of land, but it wasn’t: It was the unexplained phenomenon that sailors knew as “the burning of the sea.” It had been known for centuries—Greek sailors attributed odd twinkles and eerie glows to the powers of the god Poseidon or one of his nymphs—but it wasn’t until the 18th century and the advent of microscopes that the true source was identified.

Today, we know the phenomenon as tiny planktonic creatures that, when a wave or boat or swimmer disturbs them, twinkle blue, thanks to the same bioluminescent enzymes that give fireflies their glow. In the depths of the ocean, the only light available is the one these creatures create themselves; they use it to communicate, to find food, to find love, and to warn off predators. For us, it provides a stunning a shoreside glimpse into the oddities of our oceans.

Dinoflagellates are one of the most common bioluminescent organisms found in shallower water. They light up when a boat cuts through the ocean—in the past their light has exposed submarines and torpedoes. Bioluminescence almost never occurs in freshwater, but it’s such an important function for marine animals that live deep in the ocean that it’s evolved independently at least 40 times. Australia’s Gippsland Lakes aren’t always salty enough, but when enough seawater seeps in, the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans thrives. These feed on phytoplankton; other bioluminescent bacteria consume rotting wood or dead fish, which, left long enough, can also start to glow blue. Bioluminescence can be visible on the beach in Vaadhoo, in the Maldives‚ but only when a passing ship disturbs the water.

On December 24, 1955, the red telephone at the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado began ringing.

The red phone meant it was either the Pentagon or CONAD commander in chief General Earle Partridge on the other end, and their reason for calling would probably not be pleasant.

U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations at the center, rushed over to the phone and grabbed it.

“Yes, Sir, this is Colonel Shoup,” he barked.

Nothing but silence in response.

“Sir? This is Colonel Shoup,” he said.

Silence again.

“Sir? Can you read me alright?”

Finally, a soft voice on the other end.

“Are you really Santa Claus?” a little girl asked.

Shoup was stunned for a second. This must be a joke, he thought. He looked around the room, expecting to see his men laughing at their prank, but found stony, serious faces all around.

He realized that there was “some screwup on the phones,” and decided to play along.

“Yes, I am,” he answered. “Have you been a good little girl?”

The girl explained to Shoup that she would leave some food out for both Santa and his reindeer and then recited her Christmas list to him. Shoup thanked her for her hospitality, noting that Santa had a lot of traveling to do. How did he get to all those houses in one night, anyway, she asked.

Apparently, that was classified intelligence in Shoup’s mind. “That’s the magic of Christmas,” he said. If anyone asks her about that, he said, she should tell them to stop asking so many questions or Santa would put them on the naughty list.

“That red phone, boy,” Shoup later recalled. “That’s either the old man—the four star [General Partridge]—or the Pentagon. I was all shook up.”

The red phone would keep ringing throughout the night. Not because of Soviet nukes or fighter planes heading toward U.S. soil, but because of a typo.

That day, Shoup would later learn, a local newspaper ran a Sears Roebuck ad inviting kids to contact Santa.

“Hey Kiddies!” the ad read. “Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day or night.” The ad listed Santa’s direct line, but the number in the copy was off by a digit. Instead of connecting to the special line Sears set up with a Santa impersonator, kids wound up calling a secret air defense emergency number.

After a few more Santa-related calls, Shoup pulled a few airmen aside and gave them a special assignment. They would answer the phone and give callers—barring the Pentagon, we assume—Santa’s current location as they “tracked” him on their radar.

From that night on, tracking Santa became a yearly tradition, carried on by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) when it replaced CONAD in 1958. A new phone number, separate from the red phone, was established and publicized, and people were invited to call in and find out how close Santa was to their home. Every Christmas Eve, military service members staff phones and email accounts and the Santa Tracker Twitter account to keep kids up to date on Santa’s whereabouts.

Harry Shoup passed away in 2009, remembered by his peers and the public as the “Santa Colonel” who gave a special gift to millions of kids.

This post originally appeared in 2012.

Yes, Virginia, Santa does read his mail. 

Every year, millions of kids around the globe communicate with Jolly Old St. Nick the old-fashioned way: Pen (or crayon) and paper. The top three countries that generate snail mail to Santa send more than 4 million letters annually: CNN estimates that 1.7 million come from France, 1.35 million are sent from Canada, and more than a million letters are written in the U.S. (The United States Postal Service doesn’t have an exact number, but says the number of letters to Santa from American kids is “easily in the millions.)

That’s a lot of correspondence. So what happens to all of it? Well, as with any other piece of mail, it depends on how the letter was addressed.

In 1912, the U.S. Postmaster General gave local postmasters the authority to allow employees and citizens to answer letters addressed to Santa. It eventually became known as Operation Santa, and today, multiple locations across the U.S. participate in the program to help deliver gifts to needy children. Those who want to play elf for the season can drop by any one of them and select a letter (or letters) to Santa to fulfill. If you don’t have a participating post office in your area, you can volunteer to start an Operation Santa in your city or donate to an existing location.

The USPS has another program called Letters to Santa, which guarantees children a response from the North Pole, but no presents. Parents mail their children’s letters to the “North Pole Postmark Postmaster,” along with Santa’s response and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The North Pole Postmark Postmaster will return the letter to the child with a special postmark from Santa.

The U.S. isn’t alone in its Yuletide philanthropy—there are similar Santa programs around the globe. The Royal Mail makes sure kids who send letters to Mr. Claus receive a response, as does the Canada Post, which even gives the big guy the custom postal code “H0H 0H0.” Brazil has Papai Noel dos Correios, a program similar to Operation Santa. And in France, any child who writes to Le Père Noël will receive a response from a post office dedicated specifically to the cause. In fact, since 1962, receiving a response from Le Père Noël is actually guaranteed by law, bringing new meaning to that whole “naughty or nice” thing.

Have you got a Big Question you’d like us to answer? If so, let us know by emailing us at bigquestions@mentalfloss.com.

Most of your coworkers are out decking the halls the second half of December, but you’re not taking a vacation. Now what? You could celebrate the solitude with long lunches and Facebook marathons at your desk. Or you could do a few of these things instead. (Your career will thank you.)

1. CLEAN UP YOUR INBOX.

“If you’re like most people, all of those emails that you promise to respond to at some point get de-prioritized during the year,” says Alexandra Douwes, cofounder of millennial strategy firm Purpose Generation. “The holiday lull is a great time to go through everything.” To keep your stamina at its peak, alternate writing emails that require thoughtful responses with mindless tasks, like unsubscribing from newsletters you never open or responding to corporate surveys. Then think about what system you could set up now to prevent (or lessen) the email pile-up in the new year. If you live in Gmail, Douwes is a fan of this online Udemy course for Gmail productivity hacks.

2. INVITE A COWORKER TO LUNCH.

A skeleton crew at the office can be a good excuse to mix up your usual routine and socialize with someone new at the office. “Aim to make a new work friend with one of the other people there,” says Laura Vanderkam, a time management expert and author of I Know How She Does It and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. “Building tighter work relationships is associated with being more happy over the long run,” she says. And it can come in handy the next time you’re in a work crunch and need more people to pitch in.

3. UPDATE YOUR MENTORS.

Just because you don’t have a formal mentor doesn’t mean you should skip this step. “I don’t have any formal mentors,” Douwes points out. “But there are several people who have a vested interest in my professional pursuits and who have mentored or sponsored me at some point throughout my career.” The relative calm at the office this time of year is a great opportunity to follow through on sending them a quick life update: what you’ve been working on, what you’ve learned, what challenges you’ve faced. The holiday season is such a flurry of cards and family newsletters that an email or handwritten note won’t seem out of the blue.

4. WORK IN AIRPLANE MODE.

With coworkers and industry contacts out of the office, you’re probably getting far fewer emails each day. That can be a huge boon to your focus—so use it to your advantage by staying out of your inbox for large chunks of time, says Vanderkam. “See if you can be off for 90 minutes before checking your inbox,” she says. “You’ll likely make headway on projects you’ve been putting off for months.” And seeing how much more productive you are when you don’t toggle over to your inbox every two seconds might convince you to carry the habit of time-blocking into the New Year.

5. SET CAREER GOALS.

We’re all promising to lose five pounds and exercise more in our personal lives. But what about setting some work resolutions for 2017? “The holiday lull is a great time to reflect on the year ahead,” says Douwes. Think about what skills you want to gain or milestones you want to achieve in the next 12 months, then brainstorm a few concrete steps you’ll take to make them happen. Don’t just make this a mental exercise—jot it down. A study at Dominican University found that people who wrote out goals were significantly more likely to achieve them than participants who merely thought about their goals. Telling a friend increased follow-through even more, as did sharing regular updates with their pal.

If thinking of a career resolution makes you draw a blank, check out these five questions Douwes recommends everyone ask themselves at the beginning of each year.

6. DUST OFF YOUR RESUME.

Even if you’re not desperately seeking a new gig, the December lull can be a good time to freshen up your application materials so you’re ready to pounce if the right position opens up (or work hits a rough patch in the new year). Update and proofread your resume, then revamp your LinkedIn profile. In October, LinkedIn rolled out a new feature, called Open Candidates, that lets you signal to recruiters that you’re open to a new position—without broadcasting that news to your boss. (Just go to the Preferences tab and turn the Open Candidates feature on.) “The slow time over the holidays can also give you a chance to do some informational interviews,” says Vanderkam. Remember, HR teams that are in the office probably have more open calendars, too.

7. TAKE ON A STRETCH OPPORTUNITY.

Last year, Douwes used the December slow period to finally write a white paper that she’d been trying to write for months. “I’d never had enough time to sit down and finish it, because the day-to-day hustle and client requests got in the way,” she says. Your to-do list likely has similar stretch projects or things you’ve thought of doing throughout the year—and now you might have the focus and quiet to tackle them. Even covering for a different coworker than usual can help you stretch, says Vanderkam. “It’s easy to cover for a colleague who does similar work as you do, but cross-training on a different type of job lets you learn new skills and see what you might be interested in trying over the long haul.”