DOLLARS FOR RECOVERY
DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN HELPS GENERATE DONATIONS FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
In Haiti, efforts to feed and house earthquake victims are building strength daily, as public and private organizations coordinate the massive rescue effort.
One of the principle non-government organizations assisting in Haiti is Food for the Poor (FFTP), the largest international relief and development organization in the United States. FFTP feeds millions in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. Days after the earthquake, FFTP volunteers in Port-au-Prince were distributing boxes of Pop-Tarts and hot food to hungry and wounded victims in hospitals and throughout the devastated Haitian capital.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the Postal Service has been helping FFTP raise money to help fund the organization’s efforts in Haiti. The day after the earthquake, Mailing Solutions Specialist Charlene Miles met with the organization at its headquarters in Coconut Creek, FL, to propose launching a direct mail special appeal for earthquake victims. Expediency was a major concern, and FFTP wanted the appeal to reach their donors as soon as possible.
Miles suggested First-Class Mail would be the most effective product to use for the solicitation. Business Services Network Representative Juan Nadal assisted in speeding the approval of the final mailpiece and making sure USPS was prepared to accept 1 million pieces of First-Class Mail. Nadal also issued mail alerts to promote timely delivery nationwide.
FFTP expects the First-Class Mail solution will generate more than a 10 percent Business Reply Mail response rate.
CHANGES TO FMLA
NEW RULES INCREASE TIME OFF TO HELP CARE FOR VETERAN, ACTIVE-DUTY RELATIVES
Postal employees will have more opportunities to take time off work to help family members who are military service members or veterans under new rules mandated by the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.
The law, signed late last year by President Obama, allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave per year under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to help a family member who is on active duty or is being called up for active duty to a foreign country.
The new rules also enable employees to take up to 26 weeks of paid or unpaid leave per year under FMLA to care for family members who are veterans and need medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness incurred in or aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty.
Previously, employees could only take time off to help injured or ill family members who were active-duty military. To qualify, the veteran must have been a member of the military, National Guard, or Reserves during the five years preceding the treatment, recuperation or therapy.
WHO WANTS TO GET SOME MAIL? Later this month, the TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" will mail 30 million sweepstakes scratch cards inside Valpak envelopes across the nation. The cards will give viewers a chance to win more than $1.5 million in prizes. The Valpak mailings begin Jan. 25 and daily individual prizes will range from $1,000 to $100,000. The contest is scheduled to run each weekday from Feb. 8 to May 28. "This is the highest paying home game that we've ever had on 'Millionaire,'" said Michael Davies, the show's executive producer. (01/20)
First-day-of-issue ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Stamp immediately follow the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City Mountain Resort, Park City, UT. Alan C. Kessler, member, Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, and Dick Coe, Executive Vice President and chief operating officer, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, are the dedicating officials.
"We are proud to support the Olympics and are pleased to be able to continue the tradition of honoring the Games by issuing postage stamps celebrating different Olympic sports," says Gov. Kessler.
Illustrator Steve McCracken captures the thrill of Olympic sports in his portrayal of an airborne snowboarder against the backdrop of a snow-capped mountain.
Stamps featuring Olympic themes have been popular since the first modern Olympiad in 1896, when Greece issued 12 Olympic-themed commemorative stamps. Beginning in 1932, when the Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, CA, numerous U.S. stamps have honored the Games.
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Eric Legner, a letter carrier in Bloomington, IL, heard a cry for help coming from inside a house on his route. He found a 93-year-old customer who a day earlier had slipped and fallen in her bathtub, breaking her arm. Legner helped her out of the bathtub, reported the accident and stayed with the woman until help arrived. The customer later said that she could have remained trapped in the tub for days had Legner not helped her.
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