WASHINGTON, DC —The Postal Service eagle is coming to life in full-action animation this summer to warn young children to stay away from postal delivery vehicles. The eagle, Franklin, and his sidekick bird friend Benny, are featured in a public service announcement (PSA) being sent to more than 500 television stations nationwide this week to help prevent injuries and deaths caused when children get too close to delivery vehicles.

“Our drivers are trained to watch out for children. We hope this new campaign will raise awareness among children and parents that children should never approach our vehicles that are making deliveries,” said Deborah Giannoni-Jackson, vice president, Employee Resource Management. “This message is especially timely during the summer months when children are not in school and more likely to be playing outside.”

The 30-second PSA features fast-paced humorous action to make children and parents aware of how important it is to always “stay away from the truck.” It is part of a broader child awareness safety program from the Postal Service and two of its unions, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association.

The safety campaign targets pre-kindergarten through second-grade school children and includes a longer animated video and other materials to use in a school setting. Additional information on the school materials will be available in August.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional on this issue, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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