Eufaula Carrier Reels In a Big One, Feeds Entire Office

One of the winners of this quarter's Customer Connect/ Rural Reach Contest is Carrier David Gill. He submitted a lead for Mann's Bait Shop, and after examining the costs and benefits of all of their options,  the company then decided to use the Postal Service for their shipping needs. Projected revenue from this lead alone is $30,000.

Any Postal facility that had an employee submit a lead that resulted in more than $25,000 of projected annual revenue was rewarded with breakfast provided for everyone in their office. Here is a picture of all of the conscientious, full Eufaula employees (David Gill is standing farthest left):

Postmarks thanks Eufaula Postmaster Ricky Long for his submission.

Mobile Monsters Eliminated in Time for BayFest

The Machine Monster contest for mail processors that was announced in the spring has ended. Little by little, the announcements of the winners from all USPS Alabama District mail processing plants are trickling in; Postmarks will post them as they arrive.

The winners were all awarded a $250 prize.

The first results that we received are from Mobile:

On tour 3, Acting Supervisor Stacey Cannon presents Cedric Busby with his Machine Monster award.

Clerk Samaria Howle was the winner for tour 1. 


Congratulations to the Mobile winners, and we hope to post more contest results soon. We also would like to thank Beverly G. DeMouy, Sabastian Hosey, and Samaria Howle for providing the pictures and results. 

2010 Combined Federal Campaign Kick-off

On Tuesday, September 21, the Alabama District held its 2010 Combined Federal Campaign Kick-off Program at the Birmingham Main Post Office. The theme for this year's annual United Way charity drive is

            I Can Be Somebody's Hero -- NOW More Than Ever.

Yolanda Sullivan, the Director of Corporate Human Resources at Vulcan Materials, encouraged a crowd of Postal employees and members of the public to participate in this year's campaign in the Birmingham Main Post Office lobby.

After the program downstairs, employees were invited upstairs to Room 277 to enroll in CFC payroll deduction, meet some of the participating charities, and,  of course, to have refreshments.

Representatives from The ARC of Walker County explained their mission to Postal employees:

To advocate and provide services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to provide support to family and friends of those individuals. 

Yolanda Sullivan (Vulcan Materials) with USPS employees CFC Coordinator Valerie Johnson and CFC Loaned Executive Christopher Ritchey.

Yolanda Sullivan with the Alabama District's CFC coordinators Rhonda Henry, Joane Jemison, Kathy Martin-Armstead, and Valerie Johnson.

If you would like to sign up to donate to the Combined Federal Campaign and have not yet been contacted by a CFC representative, call (205) 510-0780. 

Healthy Recipe Contest Winner

Birmingham Clerk Martha Cash is the winner of the Healthy Recipe Contest. She was presented a $100 gift certificate from Birmingham Plant Manager Mitchell Cade (center) and Nurse Kathryn Sherrill (left).

Congratulations, Martha, and we all look forward to cooking your recipe for Roasted Greek Potatoes, which will be found on the Recipes tab later this week.

Students Storm Satsuma

Submitted by Mobile Administrative Assistant Lauren Cooper:

Nine kindergarten classes, totaling 135 students, from Robert E. Lee Elementary School took a field trip to the Satsuma Post Office in three days! Budget constraints caused the school to look for field trip options closer to home. Even though the Satsuma Post Office is small and doesn’t usually host field trips, local Postmaster Kathy English couldn’t say no to helping out the local community.

Forty-five K5 students along with three teachers and ten parents toured the office each day. The students were very well mannered and asked some great questions, such as, “How do you rent a Post Office Box?” and “Why is my box across the street from my house?”

SSA Roger Pugh and Rural Carriers Marie Lynn and Aden Thomas assisted the postmaster in explaining retail, delivery, and distribution processes to the group. The field trip was enjoyed by all and a great connection was made with the local community.

Grant Post Office Lures Customers Into Boxes

Yesterday, the Grant Post Office conducted a Customer Appreciation Day. About the event, Postmaster David Powell writes


We held a customer appreciation day yesterday in the lobby of my office in order to thank customers for their patronage and to promote renting a PO Box. We had drinks and snacks, and I purchased the new tote bags from another office and gave them away to my best customers. They loved the bags, and it helps when they come to pick up their mail. We talked with about 70 people regarding renting boxes. We also gave out applications and price sheets. The event ran from 9-12 noon.


Overall, this was a fun and easy event that really impacted the community and increased awareness of renting a PO Box. Any office could do the same with little effort.

  

Pictured above are Hodges Dental Lab customer,  Clerk Donna Sutphin,  Custodian Darlene Gourdine, and Postmaster David Powell. Postmarks thanks David Powell for sharing the photo and event summary.



Region 3 EEO Counselor of the Year

Earlier this week, EEO Dispute Resolution Specialist Virginia Files was named Region 3 EEO Counselor of the Year. 

On the Certificate of Appreciation that Virginia received, Regional EEO Manager Dino Desorbo wrote Your concern and caring is evident in your efforts to assist others in resolving disputes and improving their work environment.

EEO Manager Nancy Falanga also has nothing but praise for Virginia's performance. "This is Virginia's retirement year. Most people slack off, but not Virginia: she consistently gets better." Falanga went on to say that Virginia has resolved the most EEO cases this year, nearly double the goal.

When asked why she has such a successful case resolution rate, Virginia's answer makes it clear that it's her focus on workplace unity that is the key. "I like my job; I like resolving complaints. All employees need to be able to work together," Virginia said. "Instead of fighting each other, we need to put that energy into fighting the competition."

Hispanic Heritage Month

Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. Why does it start in the middle of September? Because September 15 is the day of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, while Mexico and Chile celebrate theirs on September 16 and September 18.

Almost 54,500 employees with Hispanic backgrounds work for the Postal Service. Hispanic Americans  (with the term Hispanic meaning people with origins in Spanish–speaking countries) are the largest minority or ethnic group, representing 16% of the population.

Many Postal employees are unaware of an organization called The Hispanic Organization of Postal Employees, Inc. (HOPE). HOPE's mission is to increase awareness and understanding of the Hispanic culture in the Postal Service, to assist in the development and promotion of Hispanics within the Postal Service, and to reach out to the Hispanic community by providing information on services, products, and employment opportunities within the Postal Service, and providing scholarships to students seeking to continue higher education.

 

Be the Match: Save Someone's Life

Submitted by Postal Nurse Kathryn Sherrill:
DO SOMETHING BIG

African Americans are facing a big challenge. Many African Americans fighting diseases like sickle cell anemia, leukemia and lymphoma can’t find marrow donors.

They need more African Americans to step up and join Be The Match marrow registry.

The tissue types used for matching patients with donors are inherited, so patients are most likely to find a match within their own racial of ethnic heritage. That means adding more donors to the registry-especially from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds-increases the likelihood that all patients will find the donor they need. For example-15 year old Taylor John has severe sickle cell disease; her best hope for a cure is a marrow transplant. Like 70% of patients, Taylor does not have a matching donor in her family. She is most likely to match another African American.

There are 8 million people on the Be The Match Registry, but only 600,000 - 7% - are African Americans.

Shaquille O’Neal is challenging the public to step up and save a life. Shaq has teamed up with Be The Match to tell the nation about the critical need for more marrow donors. In the Do Something Big campaign, the basketball superstar will challenge Americans to “Be the one to save a life”.

“Together we can provide hope to patients of every age and race-that power is within everyone’s reach,” said O’Neal. “take the first step at BeTheMatch.org.”

To join, go to the BeTheMatch.org website or call 1-800-627-7692.

Be between 18 and 60 years of age and in overall good health with medical guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need. More information is available on the website or by speaking with a volunteer at the phone number provided above.

Once you register, you may order your kit. Simply follow the directions to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit.

Another site where you can find some good information about the need for African-American bone marrow donors is blackbonemarrow.com, which is where we found the following article about a Postal employee who died earlier this year while waiting for a bone marrow match.

Karen Drayden from Dallas Texas, a 25 year veteran of the United States Postal Service. In early 2009 she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. After initial chemotherapy and a relapse, it was determined that her best chances of survival would be a bone marrow transplant. With out a matching sibling it was an extra hard blow to find out there was no one on the registry who matched her tissue type.

I met Karen in the hospital where she asked me to speak to her co-workers and that although she knew her chances of survival where not good, she wanted to make a difference for others who are facing the same grim prognosis.

After several more months of chemotherapy and a couple of relapses a partial umbilical cord match was found for her. However it was determined that the levels of leukemia cells were too high for her to undergo the procedure. Karen says “I am truly sick and this illness is winning but I am trying all I can so that doctors can learn more and help the next resistant patient and it saddens me” (Jan 15, 2010). Those would be her last words to me, she passed away two weeks later on January 28th. I told her I would tell her story.

Ensley Post Office Shows Its Love

On Thursday, September 9, the staff at the Ensley Post Office wanted to show all of their customers how much they are appreciated, so they served  popcorn, snack cakes and bottled water to everyone who came in that day. At the same time, the staff promoted the Forever stamps. 

Combined Federal Campaign Kicks Off

It's time to start thinking about your annual commitment to supporting the United Way organizations of your choice. Last week marked the beginning of this year's campaign. To see just one example of how CFC dollars make a difference, look at these pictures from last week's playground build at Kollege for Tots. 

Volunteers from the United Way, the Postal Service, and other agencies got together to assist Success by 6 in building a much-needed playground and in accomplishing other necessary maintenance and improvements.

Kollege for Tots is a daycare and after-school center that sits on the edge of a subsidized housing complex in Huffman, Alabama. Students range in age from 18 months through 11 years old. 

Owner Mary Louise Murdock has been operating at this location for 24 years, and was so excited to have been chosen as a recipient of help from Success for 6, a program that strives to prepare children for success in elementary school. 

Four-year-old class and their teacher at Kollege for Tots

“We scrimp and save and have fund-raisers," said Murdock. "I have been in this business for 44 years, and this is the first time that anybody has ever done anything like this for us." 

Murdock described the environment that is frequently present in the neighborhood. "Sometimes, we have to close the blinds because there will be people right outside urinating.”

And home isn't necessarily any better.  “If you could only see how some of these kids have to live," Murdock said. "I've looked in apartment windows where students are living and have sometimes seen no furniture. You don’t realize what you’ve got until you see what others don’t have.”

Volunteers work to clean the yard. 

 Postal employee Valerie Johnson helps prepare a fence for painting. 

 .Kids and volunteers pause for a picture on the new slide. 

All children deserve safe and fun places to learn and play, and thanks to the United Way and your donations, kids at Kollege for Tots can't wait to break in their new playground. 

Labor Day: Alabama Post Office Murals

Many Alabama Post Offices display labor-themed WPA or TRAP murals and other works that were created by artists in the early to mid 20th century. The following examples are posted at the Alabama New Deal Art website:

Scottsboro

Alabama Agriculture by Constance Mayer (1940)

Fairfield

Spirit of Steel by Frank Hartley Anderson (1938)

Luverne

Cotton Field by Arthur Getz (1942)

Monroeville

Harvesting by Arthur Leroy Bainsfather (1939)

Phenix City

Cotton by J. Kelley Fitzpatrick (1939)

If your post office contains WPA or New Deal Artwork, please take a picture and send it to us.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day!

U.S. Joining the Mother Teresa Stamp Club

On September 5, Postmaster General Jack Potter will dedicate the new Mother Teresa stamp at a ceremony at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Albania in 1910. She founded The Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. For her international work with the poor, orphaned, sick, and dying, Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. When she died in 1997, her charities had grown to 610 missions in 123 countries.

Despite some initial complaints about the USPS's production of the stamp, as the release date approaches, controversy seems to have died down.

According to the Catholic News Agency, "Initial complaints about the stamp were raised by the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. People supportive of the Mother Teresa stamp sent a petition with more than 70,000 signatures to the Postmaster General this past February."

Across the globe, Mother Teresa has inspired many other countries to pay tribute to her on a stamp. Here are some of them:

India

The Republic of Mali

Djibouti

Ascension Island

Argentina

San Marino

The Republic of Madagasikara

Union des Comores

Friends of Palestine

Bangladesh

Somalia

Notice how several countries have chosen to pair Mother Teresa with Lady Diana or with some other person of significance.  

For information on how to order the Mother Teresa First-Day Cover and the Mother Teresa First-Day-of-Issue Postmark, visit  The Postal Store.