District Adds Phase II Ambassadors

Front Row seated (L to R):  Helen Iturbines, Palmetto Lakes Branch, Hialeah; Aleshia Young, Opa Locka Main Office; Qualyn Gibbs, Blue Lagoon Branch, Miami; Maribel Del Valle, Milam Dairy Branch, Miami.  Middle Row (L to R):  Lillian Castro, Program Manager, Communications Ambassador Program; Orlando De La Osa, Postmaster, Hialeah; Arnaldo Gonzalez, Bright Station, Hialeah; Rene Rivers, Kendall Branch, Miami; Lockey Anderson, Postmaster, Miami Beach. Back Row (L to R):  Bobbie Sims, Postmaster, Hallandale; Sylvia Simmons, Postmaster, Dania; Jeannette Triana, Coral Gables Branch, Miami; C. Sabrina Henry; Blue Lagoon, Miami; Rick Lupe, Opa Locka Main Office; Donna Mollicone-Perez, Coral Gables Branch, Miami; and Mitchell Perez, A/Supervisor, Consumer and Industry Contact.

By Lillian Castro, Program Manager, Communications Ambassador Program

For the South Florida District, Ambassador Phase II began with Fiscal Year 2014 with the inclusion of 15 more offices.  Joining the engagement celebration included Blue Lagoon Branch, Carl Fisher Finance Unit, Carol City Branch, Coral Gables Branch, Golden Isles Finance Unit, Hallandale Main Office, Hialeah Bright Station, Hialeah Palmetto Lakes Station, Kendall Branch, Miami Beach Main Office, Miami Springs Finance Unit, Milam Dairy Branch, Miracle Mile Finance Unit, and Opa Locka Main Office. 

Communications Ambassadors engage in effective communication through a four-step process - the Stand-Up Talk, Display Board Posting, a Personal Conversation, and Feedback.  Since the key to success in everything that we do is based on the level of effectiveness utilized to communicate, this process extends the concept to require that conveyed information is received and understood in the way it is intended.

This latest addition brings the South Florida District to a total of 45 offices onboard the Communications Ambassador Program, representing the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Opa Locka, Carol City, Hallandale, and Miami Beach.

Abuelo Ernie Shares Spotlight with Granddaughter Lola at School

Grandpa/Abuelo Ernie (center) holding Priority Mail box in front of Lola, teacher, and classmates.  Photo:  Natalie Cintado

Ernie Cintado, Manager, Customer Service Operations, Miami, took time from his busy schedule to visit with students at Ocean Reef Academy in Bay Harbour Islands, FL.  His granddaughter, Lola, attends the school.

"The kids were super excited to learn about the Postal Service and see the vehicle that delivers their mail," Grandpa Ernie said.  "The mail truck delivered magnets and coloring books to all the kids. 

Grandpa, also known as Abuelo, promised the kids that he would return to pick up their Santa letters during the holiday season.

Jupiter SSA Gives 'Stamp of Approval'

Jupiter Sales & Service Associate Mary Ann Tucker assists customer.

Article & Photo:

LuAnn Warner

WPB Customer Relations Coordinator

Jupiter Sales and Service Associate Mary Ann Tucker learned quickly how to apply a pictorial postmark cancellation to an envelope. She was invited to participate in the Jupiter Lighthouse- Lightship pictorial cancellation ceremony on the Jupiter Inlet grounds. Holding the special order cancellation stamp and transferring the image onto a stamped envelope in just the right place is not as easy as it looks.  She practiced transferring the image onto blank sheets of paper until she felt confident enough to cancel stamps on the envelopes. 

Philatelic and postmark collectors usually prefer to have the cancellation catch the left side or lower edge of the stamp. The remainder of the postmark then appears on the envelope portion, making the postmark clearly readable. Collectors want to be able to read the name of the city and the ZIP Code in the postmark. Pressure during the application, as well as making sure that the device is properly inked and legibly applied to the cachets, can make this a complicated task. Tucker’s persistence in learning the new task, however, has generated approximately $435 in revenue of stamp and cachet sales. The special postmark cancellation is available for 30 days after an event.  As a community service, the Postal Service offers pictorial postmarks to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation. Pictorial postmarks depicting community events appear in the Postal Bulletin.

North Miami Wins SSK Contest

L to R:  SSA Taskisha Crome, Retail Supervisor Thoretha Vancol, and SSA Rubi Minter.

Article & Photo:  Mirtha Uriarte, Miami Customer Relations Coordinator

Headquarters held a Nationwide “Self Service Kiosk (SSK) Improvement” during Fiscal Year 2013 between March and August. South Florida’s North Miami Branch took the lead during August and won after competing with 22 other units in its category.  North Miami SSAs achieved an overall 10.97% overall improvement during this period.   

Retail Manager Charisse Nadal presented the North Miami Team a $150 American Express gift card on behalf of Kelly Sigmon, Vice President, Channel Access.  (Later, the team purchased breakfast and lunch for all North Miami employees.)

Miami Officer-in-Charge Enrique Suarez takes the SSK adoption rate very seriously and emphasizes the importance that all Sales and Service Associates must promote and encourage customers to utilize the kiosk.

“We must continue to educate our customers on the benefits the SSK.  Once our SSAs assist customers in familiarizing themselves with the kiosk, it will be a win-win situation,” said Suarez.  “Use of the kiosk reduces wait time in line and improves our retail effectiveness.”

Honoring Our Veterans

Riviera Beach veterans are thanked for their military service.  L to R:  Conrad Wendell, Rashid Morris, Henry Stanley, David Urrutia, Obbie Hardwick, John Mackey, Rodney Dennard, Rodney Crawford, Hector Serrano, Kevin James, Roy Grinnon, Angel Gonzales, Jonathan Finkley, Christopher Lang, Mike Sheeley, Dave Santang, and Pablo Estupinan, Manager, Customer Service.  Veterans not pictured:   Lavon Barnett, Patricia Bond, Brian Coulton, Ivy Henderson, Archie Jackson, Jose Perez, Andrew Thomas, and Nestor Velez.

Article & Photo:  LuAnn Warner, WPB Customer Relations Coordinator

West Palm Beach Station and Branch employees came together as one in a simultaneous broadcast conference call to honor their veterans for Veterans Day. Employees gathered on the workfloor in each of the offices and listened to the message given by West Palm Beach Postmaster Rich Fermo.  He thanked the veterans for their service to our country as Managers, Customer Service, distributed Letters of Appreciation to all of the employees with military service.  The Postmaster said that their dedication deserved the respect and admiration of every American, not only on Veterans Day, but throughout the year. The song, “God Bless the USA,” by Lee Greenwood, was broadcast and employees’ voices were heard city wide singing along to the patriotic song.  Individual offices also held their own celebrations to honor the military employees for their service, totaling close to 140 for the city. 

Miami CRC 'Delivers' Halloween!

Michael and Sophia

Miami customer Isidro Motola sent a large Priority Mail box addressed to his daughter in Kansas for his grandchildren on September 29.  But it seemed the package containing two Halloween costumes for his grandchildren had disappeared.  Would Halloween be a “trick” or a “treat” for the anxious children awaiting the package from Abuelo (Grandpa) who received nightly calls questioning the whereabouts of the package.

He contacted Miami Officer-In-Charge Enrique Suarez  and Miami Customer Relations Coordinator Mirtha Uriarte.  Fortunately, Uriarte was able to view an image from the APPS machine to resolve the mystery of the disappearing package.  It turns out that the customer failed to include his daughter’s apartment number on the mailing label, as well as his street number on the return address. The package literally had nowhere to go. 

Halloween was approaching so time was of the essence.  Uriarte suggested to her customer that he purchase two new costumes and asked if he would be able to return the original purchase once received.  Her customer was very grateful for the idea and did just that.  Two days after second package was sent, Motola contacted Uriarte to advise he had received the original package, but the replacement was also missing, scans identified it at a city approximately 50 miles from its destination. 

With Halloween being just a couple of days away, it seemed the package would not arrive on time but luckily, the package was re-routed. With step by step communication with the cities involved --- manager, supervisor, and carrier at the Louisville, KY delivery unit --- the package was delivered two days prior to Halloween.

“The children were ecstatic; I never lost confidence the Postal Service would deliver.  At first I thought the contents of my package were not important enough to receive so much assistance, but I was wrong.  All involved demonstrated that every customer and every mail piece counts,” he said.

A Halloween Cutie!

Proud postal worker and aunt, Marita Laster, shares a cute Halloween photo of nephew Johnny Ross III.   Will young Johnny one day follow in his aunt's footsteps at the Miami ISC?  Or will he choose to be a letter carrier?

(Thanks to Calvin Fritchey for this screenshot.)