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Postal ambassadors, take 3!
"How may I help you?"
For retail sales associates, that question is at
the heart of what they do on a daily basis - help customers sift through
the variety of products and services that USPS offers to recommend the
ones that best fit their needs.
Pretty important stuff, when you think about it.
The Postal ServiceTM thought about it - and selected nine retail sales
associates from 80 district representatives to serve as national postal
ambassadors promoting our quick, easy and convenient products and services
to the public.
To do that, these new ambassadors - just like the
letter carrier and customer service ambassadors before them - will carry
the USPS message by appearing in promotional and publicity events across
the nation.
NALC names national hero of the year
Kennebunk,
ME, Letter Carrier David Heald speaks with reporters after being named
NALC National Hero of the Year.
A Maine letter carrier who used his Navy life- saving
skills to prevent a motorcyclist from bleeding to death after an accident
is the 2005 National Hero of the Year, named by the 305,000-member National
Association of Letter Carriers (NALC).
NALC Branch 92 member David Heald of Kennebunk,
ME, received a special NALC award.
Heald was driving Sept. 1, 2004, when he
came upon a car-motorcycle accident. The motorcyclist's leg had been
severed 3 inches below the hip. Using life-saving skills he learned
in the Navy, Heald covered the injury and applied a tourniquet to stop
the bleeding. Police at the scene said the motorcyclist would have died
before paramedics arrived if Heald had not made the tourniquet and used
it correctly.
Letter Carrier Mike Miller rescues stranded neighbors
Kenner,
LA, Letter Carrier Mike Miller holds the life preserver from his houseboat.
Miller was a lifesaver for hundreds of stranded New Orleans residents
following Katrina.
Kenner, LA, Letter Carrier Mike Miller named his
houseboat Coton Haut, French for "High Cotton." A fitting
name, given that after riding out Hurricane Katrina in the boat for
a day and a half, he found himself tied up to the same pier - only 25
feet higher. When Miller emerged from below deck after the storm, he
saw total destruction everywhere. Boats were capsized, including the
one moored next to him, which came to rest up against the Coton Haut.
What followed was a 4-day nonstop rescue mission.
Miller estimates he made 10-12 trips a day for
4 days, loaded with as many as 15 people per trip in a 17-foot boat
he borrowed. He and his friend took them from rooftops to higher ground,
often to a highway, since portions of I-10 became a boat ramp for
them. They only stopped when official rescue personnel arrived and
told them they could discontinue their efforts.
"All I was thinking about was `these poor,
old people,'" Miller said. "The thing was they probably
couldn't leave because they had no way, or the means, to leave. I
just wish I could have helped more people."
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Three generations weather Katrina on roof
Bay
St. Louis, MS, Letter Carrier Micki Clifton is back on the job after
a harrowing experience riding out Hurricane Katrina on a rooftop.
With Hurricane Katrina on the way, Bay St. Louis,
MS, Letter Carrier Micki Clifton, her 16-year-old daughter and 72-year-old
mother evacuated to her brother's on higher ground - but it wasn't
high enough to avoid the storm's surge. Realizing they were at risk inside,
they climbed on top of her brother's truck outside, then to the roof of
the house.
All three clung to the chimney for more than 2
hours - and Clifton and her mom are not swimmers. "I remember hanging
on to the chimney, hoping and praying it would stop rising," Clifton
said. And, eventually it did.
With 50 percent of her route severely damaged,
Clifton is encouraged to see the city clean up little by little each
day. When customers are surprised to see her, she is proud to say, "We're
up and moving again."
APWU offers housing help
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is helping
in the search for temporary housing for APWU members and other Postal
Service employees displaced by Katrina. Their Web site has information
for APWU members and postal employees living near the Hurricane Katrina
disaster and shelter areas willing to open their s to displaced employees.
Individuals willing to volunteer should call 202-842-4271. Please be prepared
to leave your name, your union local, your address, contact information,
the number of adults and children you can house and the duration you are
willing to provide housing. For more information, go to http://www.apwu.org/dept/human-rel/index.htm.
PERF donations continue to come in
Wakefield,
MA, Post Office employees joined the ranks of PERF contributors by donating
their vending machine fund proceeds.
The Postal Employees' Relief Fund (PERF) reports
that donations continue to come in - both online and by mail since Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita.
Donations are coming from USPS employees around
the country - and from mailing industry colleagues.
You can make your contribution by visiting www.postalrelief.com
and clicking the "Donate Now" button online, or by sending a
check or money order payable to PERF to the following address:
PO BOX 34422
WASHINGTON DC 20043-4422
You also can select PERF for your Combined Federal
Campaign (CFC) contribution. PERF's CFC code is 9891.
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