Our employees not only are the faces of public service in communities across the nation — they give back in many ways, from collecting food for families in need to raising awareness about important issues to even helping save lives. During the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, USPS letter carriers collected 70.6 million pounds of food donated by customers on their routes and destined for local food banks, pantries or shelters. It was the 11th consecutive year that more than 70 million pounds were collected, adding to the more than 1 billion pounds of food collected since the effort began. Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s largest single-day food drive, was launched in 1993 by the National Association of Letter Carriers and is supported by the Postal Service. Canned and non-perishable items are collected by 230,000 letter carriers and other Postal Service employees in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Guam.
Each year in May, the Postal Service supports National Dog Bite Prevention Week. This public safety campaign builds awareness concerning animal attacks. Nationwide, 5,767 Postal Service employees were attacked in calendar year 2014. Of the 4.5 million Americans bitten by dogs annually, half are children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Postal Service, medical community, veterinarians and insurance industry are working together to educate the public that dog bites are avoidable.
Working with Valassis Communications Inc., the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Postal Inspection Service, the “Have You Seen Me” campaign demonstrates the power and reach of mail. The campaign’s ability to connect citizens across the country has been instrumental in returning 158 missing children to their families as of May 2015.
Each year, Postal Service employees go beyond the call of duty, some even risking their own safety, to save the lives of the customers they serve. Hundreds have been recognized as heroes over the years. At its annual recognition event in Washington, DC, the Postal Service honored Carmichael, CA, letter carrier Scott Gallegos as the 2015 National Hero of the Year. In just his fourth week on the job, Gallegos risked his life on his route to save a woman who had been shot by a man who then engaged police in a five-hour standoff.
The Postal Service, the National Marrow Donor Program and the Be the Match Foundation created the “Delivering the Gift of Life” campaign 18 years ago. To date, 59,848 Postal Service employees and their families have joined the donor registry as of July 2015.
Since 1912, Postal Service employees, charities and individual and corporate volunteers have helped children and families in need experience the magic of the holiday season by answering letters to Santa.
The Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service dedicate one week in March every year — National Consumer Protection Week — to educate consumers about identity theft and other fraud schemes and provide tools and information to combat these crimes.
