Hurricane Preparedness: Keeping in Touch

There are many types of emergencies. But there’s only one source of information on work schedule and reporting time changes, facility openings and closings, and other workplace announcements due to an emergency situation. To check your work schedule and/or status of your facility in an emergency situation (including before, during, and after a tropical storm or a hurricane):

USPS National Employee Emergency Hotline
888-363-7462

(Deaf/hard-of-hearing employees who are seeking the above workplace information should call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 or the Florida Relay Service at 800-955-8771. Ask the operator to call the USPS National Employee Emergency Hotline, then relay the information to you.)

Meet Our FEOY Candidates

Public Service Recognition Week is May 1-7, and 17 South Florida employees are vying for “Federal Employee of the Year” award recognition on May 6.

The South Florida Federal Executive Board honors and recognizes outstanding federal employees in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties through its “Federal Employee of the Year” Awards and Recognition Program. The May 6th luncheon will honor all candidates for their exceptional service at their place of employment and/or in their local community. Congratulations and best wishes to these employees in their respective categories:

Administrative
Anthony Alaimo, Data Collection Technician, Fort Lauderdale P&DC
Sherry Scott, Data Collection Technician, Fort Lauderdale P&DC

Law Enforcement
Brian McCarthy, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division

Management
Ed Coppola, Postmaster, Pompano Beach
Teresa Johnson, Supervisor, Customer Service, Opa-locka Post Office

Miami P&DC Green Team
Mike Adams, Manager, Maintenance Operations
Ricardo Amezquita, Manager, Maintenance
Robert Balzan, Manager, Maintenance Operations
Jose Jimenez, Manager, Maintenance Operations
Franco Parodi, Quality of Life Coordinator
Eddy Perez, Manager, Maintenance Operations
Albeo Rosado, Manager, Field Maintenance Operations

Professional
Carroll Burgess, Environmental Compliance/Risk Mitigation Specialist, Southwest Area

Service to the Community
Starr Hunter, Letter Carrier, Palms Central Carrier Annex
Wanda Wynn, Mail Processing Clerk, South Florida P&DC

Technical/IT
Rosanna Schmidt, Information Systems Specialist, South Florida District Office

Valor
Linda George, Letter Carrier, Palm Beach Gardens Branch

Special Delivery! --- Lola Style

This cute toddler has a fascination with the Postal Service. And with a grandfather who is the Officer-In-Charge of the Hialeah Post Office, "Princess Lola" is "postal by birth." Lola is pictured collecting mail from the local collection box --- without exiting her vehicle.

"Don't lose that arrow key," says Grandpa Cintado. "And remember to get back to the office before 5 o'clock!"

Robert Jones: 50 Years and Counting!

South Florida District Manager Jeff Becker (R) presents Mail Processing Equipment Mechanic Robert Jones (L) with Letter of Appreciation commemorating 50 years of outstanding service. L to R: Miami Plant Manager Rick Suarez, Senior Plant Manager Jennifer Stevenson, MPE Robert Jones, District Manager Jeff Becker, and Maintenance Manager Rick Amezquita celebrate Robert's career milestone.

Robert Jones began his career in Cleveland Ohio and never gave it a thought that one day he would be celebrating 50 years in the Postal Service.

"I just came to work every day and did my job," Robert said. "I never really planned to stay for 50 years from the get-go, but one year became another and here I am."

In Cleveland, Robert unloaded trucks and then worked as a letter carrier for eight years. Uncle Sam called him to serve in the Army for 2 years, and then he returned as a Special Delivery Messenger, and then worked in Maintenance at a facility near Lake Erie.

"It was soooo cold. I would unload a truck for 15 minutes, and then have to come inside to warm up," Robert said.

It's the warm weather that brought Robert to South Florida in 1976. He transferred to MPE in Miami, first at the Biscayne Annex and now at the Miami GMF.

How has the Postal Service changed over the years?

"Tremendously," Robert said. "I remember those old blue cancelling machines, the machine that tied mail into bundles, and the Single Position Letter Sorting Machine. Now we are in the digital age with all these computers."

Robert enjoys his job and has fond memories of being on an overhaul team that travelled to Texas and Louisiana to move and install Letter Sorting Machines (LSMs). Today his MPE job involves "basically a little bit of everything." Robert has performed maintenance on all equipment at the Miami GMF. In addition, he runs test mail, conducts mail searches, and pulls reports.

"I like to troubleshoot and fix the equipment the most," Robert said.

What is his secret to postal longevity?

"Keeping a positive attitude and taking pride in your work," Robert said. "Learning all there is to know about your job and helping the Postal Service survive as a business for many years to come."

Hallmark Introduces Postage-Paid Greetings

USPS and Hallmark have introduced “Postage-Paid Greetings” — a line of everyday and seasonal cards that include postage. All customers have to do is buy the card, address it and drop it in a mailbox. No stamp required.

The Hallmark Postage-Paid Greetings line includes a unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) on each envelope, indicating Hallmark is responsible for the postage. The scan information captured during normal mail processing is used to identify, sort and count the cards. Hallmark pays half the postage to USPS when Postage-Paid Greetings cards are sold and the other half when the customer mails the cards.

To make sure the Postal Service receives the full value of each card’s postage, employees must not obliterate the IMb or any other pre-printed markings on the envelope.

With Postage-Paid Greetings, Hallmark customers won’t need to be concerned about changing stamp prices. The postage is covered anytime they choose to mail it — even if it’s a few months or years down the road.

More than 200 different designs of Postage-Paid Greetings everyday cards will be sold in Hallmark Gold Crown stores, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS and other Hallmark distribution locations. Seasonal cards will be available starting this Easter season. Postage-Paid everyday cards can be purchased for $3.99. Seasonal cards will range in price from $2.69 to $3.99.

For more information, visit www.halmark.com

Help "Stamp Out Hunger" on Saturday, May 14

Entertainer and entrepreneur Nick Cannon will join Feeding America, the National Association of Letter Carriers and Campbell Soup Company in their annual fight to Stamp Out Hunger across America on Saturday, May 14.

Now in its 19th year, Stamp Out Hunger has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive. In 2010, letter carriers collected a record-setting total of 77.1 million pounds of food donations along their postal routes. This pushed the 18-year total to more than one billion pounds of food.

As a hunger relief advocate and the newest member of Feeding America’s Entertainment Council, Nick Cannon is supporting the letter carriers by appearing in radio and print public service announcements. Both promote the campaign and urge Americans to help their neighbors in need by donating a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods – such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal – next to their mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on Saturday, May 14th.

Cannon also is appearing in a television public service announcement which will be available to view on the drive’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/StampOutHunger2011) as well as its Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger).

“My family turned to food pantries for assistance from time to time when I was growing up, so I know first-hand how important this food drive is,” said Cannon. “With more than 50 million Americans living at risk of hunger, please join me and millions of other generous Americans on Saturday, May 14 by placing a non-perishable food donation next to your mailbox to help the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger.”

Again this year, Campbell will donate one pound of food (up to one million pounds) to the Feeding America food bank network for every person who joins the Stamp Out Hunger Cause on Facebook. Americans can trigger a donation by visiting www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger.

Also supporting the drive as national partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, Valpak, the AFL-CIO, United Way Worldwide and Uncle Bob's Self Storage.

For more information about the Stamp Out Hunger food drive in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the District of Columbia, ask a letter carrier, contact a local Post Office, or visit www.helpstampouthunger.com, www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger or www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.