What:
The eighteenth annual “Coats for Kids” program. Employees of the United States Postal Service will deliver warm coats and hoodie sweatshirts to nearly 200 elementary school children at Keidan Special Education Center. Items were purchased with contributions from Detroit Postal Service employees.

When:
Friday, January 28, 2011 from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Where:
Keidan Special Education Center, 4441 Collingwood, Detroit, MI

Who:
Detroit District postal employees will distribute coats, hoodie sweatshirts and lap throws to nearly 200 students with special needs.

Background:
The holiday season is generally a time of year that many kids receive new coats and clothing.  This year, the Postal Service has extended its tradition of giving into the month of January to provide a new coat for that child that may not have received one during the holidays.  Teachers at Keidan identified more than 50 such students.  All 200 Keidan students will receive a logo hoodie sweatshirt.  Additionally, 40 students in wheelchairs along with the kindergarten class will receive a warm throw for their laps or to be used at nap time.

Since the beginning of the program, postal employees have donated more than $160,000 towards the purchase of coats, hats, gloves, boots and toys for more than 6000 Detroit elementary school children in need. “Coats for Kids began as an idea by mail handlers in the Postal Service’s Quality of Work Life Program. With the collective efforts of management and craft employees. The Coats for Kids program has grown to be one of Detroit Postal Service’s most successful charitable donations of the year.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 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 $67 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 29th in the 2010 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 six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.