Operation North Pole offers eligible families the opportunity to apply to attend our Winter Wonderland Event in December. Visit our homepage to locate our Invitation to Apply Button when our application process is open. If no button appears, Applications are not being accepted. The first 75 families who complete the Invitation to Apply and meet the criteria of our Selection Committee will be notified and offered the opportunity to attend our event. Please refer to the following guidelines to help you determine if your family is eligible to apply: Families may only attend Operation North Pole once, no repeat participation is permitted. The sick child must be 12 years of age or younger at the time of the event. The illness must be life-threatening/terminal or result in permanent disability. The sick child must be healthy enough to participate in activities that span up to 10 hours. ONP requires releases that must be signed by the parent regarding Use of Image and Likeness and a General Hold Harmless. We cannot make exceptions to this policy. Families agree to provide hospital and/or physician contact information for verification purposes of information provided. Please be aware that our event includes therapy dogs and miniature horses as well as loud noises and bright lights. Our event may not be appropriate for your child if they have certain allergies or sensitivities. Food is also served at various times during the day, including breakfast and lunch. Unfortunately we do not have the ability to accommodate special dietary needs. Finally, because our event includes a train ride on the Union Pacific Northwest Line, we have limited space for children requiring use of a motorized wheelchair. If your child requires use of a motorized wheelchair and you feel your family is otherwise eligible, we encourage you to apply as early as possible. (FYI ONP does not provide wheelchairs for the day.)

No. Based on the number of children, family members, and the professional staff we require assisting our guest families we are unable to accommodate visitors on our privately chartered train.

There are a number of volunteer opportunities available throughout the year. You can view volunteer opportunities on our volunteer page. We also frequently post volunteer opportunities on our Facbeook page and the ONP newsletter. We always have a need for volunteers to help with fundraising events, decorating the Winter Wonderland and other features of the day’s event as well as the tear down of the decorations after the event.

We receive numerous requests for volunteering on the day of the event. Because our event deals with a fragile population, we rely upon medically trained volunteers (namely public safety personnel) to help in the transportation and support of our families. Each area of the Winter Wonderland has a committee chair that is responsible for securing their volunteers. We accept names that will be added to a pool of potential volunteers but cannot guarantee that you will be selected for participation on the day of the event.

There are a number of opportunities to support ONP. Please go to our Donate page or Become a Sponsor page to find out how you can support us.

There are a variety of business and corporate level sponsorships available to assist with the support and development of the day’s events. Please see our Become a Sponsor page for further information. We encourage you to contact our office for further information.

Yes. Operation North Pole is a 501(c)3 public charity and your donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Because Operation North Pole is a volunteer organization, administrative and general expenses are a very small portion of the overall budget. In 2016, less than 3% of the money Operation North Pole raised through its net fundraising efforts was used to pay for administrative and general expenses.