The United States Postal Service will process about 13 billion items of mail this holiday season, millions of which come through the distribution center in Rochester.

The Rochester USPS Processing and Distribution Center moves an average of 100,000 packages every day during the holidays.

“If it weren’t for the people here, it doesn’t matter how many machines you have. It would never get done,” Support Manager Vincent Catapano said.

The center employs about 500 people during the holidays, including Abdullahi Sufi. It’s his fourth holiday working for USPS, and he loves it.

“It’s the busiest time of the year. There are a lot of people, it’s a lot of mail," Sufi said. "It’s overwhelming, but everyone’s on the same page and feeling the holiday spirit.”

He helps with the letters, of which there’s an average of two million processed every day during the holidays.

“You’ll see red, green. You’ll be able to pick it up. As soon as you load the mail, you’ll see it, you’ll feel it,” Sufi said.

That’s a lot of Christmas cards, and of course letters to the North Pole.

“We make sure it gets to Santa, and Santa responds back," Sufi said. "We see a lot of those almost every day, like the whole time.” 

Sufi doesn’t mind the extra workload one bit, especially when it means getting mail home for the holidays.

“It keeps you busy, and everyone is on point, together, feeling the spirit of the holiday. And it’s just a lovely time, the best time,” Sufi said.