As most of you know by now, over a year ago, at our 2009 National Legislative Forum, Pat Donahoe promised League Postmasters that he would do away with wasteful, redundant logs and reports. Soon after that event, I contacted Mr. Donahoe and suggested a committee of Postmasters to work as a Redundant Reports team. He told me to go ahead and put a team together. I selected Bill Donaldson, Postmaster of Canton OH to head up the committee and picked at least one Postmaster to serve from each Area. Andrea Cammer, Janie Holder, Norma Powell, Diane McCoy, Melinda Milone, Denise Owen, Keith Kopp, Kelly Strong and Roberta Stevens-Simmons all volunteered to work as part of this special committee. When I submitted these names to Mr. Donahoe, I suggested to him that he appoint a like number of Napus Postmasters to serve with our Leaguers. The first committee telecons went well with Pat Donahoe personally participating in the process. Every report or log nationwide was identified. Eventually, Bill Donaldson and his committee submitted their report on the logs and reports. Things heated up at Postal Headquarters and nothing happened for a while. I emailed Mr. Donahoe to ask what was going on with the progress of the committee. He answered from an airport to let me know that he’d just left a meeting with Mike Daley who suggested that the entire report process go wireless. Little did I know at the time that that idea had been tendered by Norma Powell, already part of the committee! Mr. Donahoe was especially pleased with that suggestion. I inquired a couple of months later about the committee’s progress. At that time Mr. Donahoe told me that he had assigned the effort’s completion to his new Vice President of Delivery and Post Office Operations, Dean Granholm. My heart dropped; not only had the process stopped, but responsibility had been passed on.

In February, the management association presidents were invited to meet with Mr. Granholm regarding the Redundant reports. By then, more than a year had elapsed since the Legislative Forum in which the effort was born. I felt sure that all Mr. Granholm would do would tell us the Postal Service had given up the effort as too complicated. I was quite surprised when we did finally meet. Dean Granholm told us that he too was a little skeptical when he was assigned to take over the process. He said he quickly changed his mind when he saw that there were 42 daily or weekly logs or checklists required by Areas and districts! Additionally, there were as many as 12 other local reports required. He also realized, to his dismay, that many of the required reports originated from him working in his old capacity in the Western Area!

Rather than go through the entire list of reports examined, I’ll just talk about the results of all the studies. Mr. Granholm’s team eliminated reports and logs that asked for information already available from existing USPS data sources as well as items duplicated on different reports. He suggested a single “All Clear” scan a day to signify that the Postmaster had done his job and all tasks were performed that day. Zero Bundle Investigation reports would be eliminated and replaced with an electronic report. 3-M and Missent Mail reports would be moved to WEB. Districts and Areas would be required to use electronic data resources to extract all data possible. The gathering of any information not already available passively that an Area might consider essential, must but be approved by Postal Headquarters. The program is expected to rolled out by, appropriately, April Fool’s Day!

This is fantastic news, and if it works as envisioned, the effort will greatly reduce the burden on Postmasters and supervisors! Besides greatly reducing the huge number of reports, the requirement will be for every possible reporting to be done electronically. Over the next month or so, Areas and districts will spend time weaning themselves of so many reports and logs upon which they have become dependent. Already I’ve heard of a district that has cancelled much of the required reporting for its smaller offices. Thank you so much Pat Donahoe for being true to your word on this very important issue. Thank you to Dean Granholm and your Headquarters crew in furthering this process. Many thanks to Bill Donaldson for heading up the committee effort and to League and Napus Postmasters who helped identify the offending reports. And finally, thank you to that League Postmaster (you know who you are) who had the courage to challenge Pat Donahoe on this issue over a year ago at our National Legislative Forum! We expect to see good things come from this very positive effort!

Respectfully,

Charley Mapa
President, National League of Postmasters

As most of you know by now, the LEAGUE has taken the issues of Postmasters to Congress. After years of trying to work through the system, meeting and consulting with Postal Headquarters, we are seeking resolutions through Congress. You can read, on the LEAGUE website, copies of the letters that we sent to Postmaster General Jack Potter and to congressmen on key committees in the House and Senate. Going to Congress was not an easy decision to make, but the League felt that we had exhausted every other avenue to get relief and resolution for our issues.

Excitement was great at our Legislative Forum as the National Board revealed to attendees our plan to storm Congress and the Postmaster General with as many letters from Postmasters as we could muster. Your direct participation in this effort is the key to its success. These are Postmaster and, oftentimes, supervisor issues; in fact, we have the full support of Ted Keating and NAPS and Bob Rapoza and NAPUS. This is one of those occasions where we’ve all got to pull together. You’ve read the issues many times in the pages of our Advocate and on our website; long, long workweeks for Postmasters due to the neglect of the Postal Service in filling supervisor, PMR, clerk and carrier positions and to properly budget hours, the abusive, demeaning, threatening management styles prevalent in many Districts, will-sapping micromanagement, an out-of-touch and much manipulated NPA/PFP process and 2,700 unfilled Postmaster positions. While you may not be directly affected by all or any of these issues, you certainly know fellow Postmasters who have had their lives gravely impacted by one or more of the issues. That is why we are asking you, as concerned managers to take part in this great letter writing effort.

It is time to make big, positive changes for Postmasters and you can help make it happen! Imagine the impact on Congress if every Postmaster from California, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Florida, Maine and every other state wrote to Washington. That is a voice that can’t be ignored. If you’ve been sitting on the fence grumbling about how bad things are for you and your fellow Postmasters, here is a chance for you to do something about it!

Letters to be written
Basically you will have two letters to craft; one to Postmaster General Potter and one to Congress.

* Letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter. You need to send this letter directly to the Postmaster General. Attached to this email are two templates of letters that you can use to help create your own letter. You need to personalize this letter and not just send what is there for examples. Be respectful; remember, Mr. Potter is still the Postmaster General with huge challenges. Any letters that you write to Congress can be copied and included with your letter to the PMG. His address is:

Mr. John Potter
Postmaster General
US Postal Service RM 10022,
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington DC 20260

* Letter to Congress. You only have to craft one letter to Congress; however you should address it and send it to at least the two people listed below. On the LEAGUE website at:

www.postmasters.org

Under the Legislation tab, you can see the letters that the National Board has sent to the PMG and to Congress. There is also a sample letter there that you can use as an example for your own letter. Again, personalize your letter. Your story, your situation will mean much more than a form letter or card. Be relatively brief. Don’t appear to be whining and don’t mention money. Address your letters to:

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman, Chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
706 Hart Senate Building
Washington D.C. 20510

- And -

The Honorable Edolphus Towns, Chairman
Oversight and Gov’t Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives
2232 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington DC 20515-3210

If you feel especially motivated, you can cc any or all of the committee members listed on the website. You should also strongly consider mailing a letter to your own congressman. His or her address can be found on the Legislative page under, “Contact your Representative.” In your letter to this person, you might list all of the Postmaster vacancies existing in her or his district.

This has to be a huge team effort. If you’ve never done anything before, now is the time to do it. Contact your fellow Postmasters and get them to right too! Some Branches have already started their efforts. Branch boards and Legislative Committees are already motivating their members to write. They’re utilizing 3-digit meetings, their own broadcast emails, newsletters, websites and phone trees. Their spouses, many following the lead of Charlene Wendt our National Auxiliary President and her board, are writing their own letters as well. Our retirees have joined the cause, and our recent retirees have much to share about why they left the service when they did.

There is no such thing as writing too many letters. Every letter is very important, and we’ll be using our own product; the U.S. Mail!

Respectfully,

Charley Mapa
President
National League of Postmasters

As the US Postal Service advances forward into the future as Postmasters, OIC’s and PMR’s we are experiencing more and more change. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 grew out of large corporate financial scandals. As a result of SOX, Section 404 the US Postal Service Act of 2006, we are mandated as an organization to be SOX Compliant by September 30, 2010.

Please take time to read the information below. This will help to provide guidance on what will be expected of you as a Postmaster, OIC or PMR, and be confident knowing that the Colorado / Wyoming League of Postmasters is working to bring you training that will help you to achieve SOX Compliance.

Who is USPS accountable to for SOX compliance?

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) monitors and manages USPS compliance with SOX. The Postal Act of 2006 expanded the authority of the PRC (formerly known as the Postal Rate Commission) to include enhanced independent regulatory oversight.

What does SOX mean for the Postal Service?

SOX is a Postal-wide effort and requires the support and help of all functional groups and employees. Some of you will be directly involved in this effort, but most of you will just need to follow the processes, policies, and procedures that we already have in place.

What is an internal control?

Internal control is the process an organization uses to manage risk and has three main objectives:

1. Promote effectiveness and efficiency of operations.
2. Ensure reliability of financial reporting.
3. Maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

An example would include reconciling a SmartPay credit card statement by the 18th of the following month by matching eBuy authorizations with the purchases shown on the card, and card holder and approving official signing the statement. In the process you are ensuring that the statement is accurate, the items on the statement are authorized, and this particular internal control is completed timely. Another example is verifying appropriate access to various IT applications that we use to conduct business. The ranges of internal controls are across the organization, from workroom floor and window operations, to District, Area, and Headquarters activities.

How are internal controls tested?

Internal controls are tested to determine whether they are functioning the way they are supposed to. Testing provides objective evidence of how well controls are executed. There are many ways of testing internal controls; the method used depends on the type of control being tested. The following are a list of testing methods:

• Interviewing people who perform the control activity
• Observing of the control activities as they are being performed
• Examining documented evidence of performance of the control activities during the
• evaluation period
• Performing the control activity in order to independently evaluate the results of
• processing Inquiries

What is the frequency of testing after we document processes?

Testing can occur at different intervals, depending on the frequency of the control activity (i.e. annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly or daily). The frequency of testing also depends on:

• The nature of the control
• The frequency of occurrence of the control across the organization
• The risk(s) to financial reporting that the control is intended to reduce

What causes internal control failures?

There are several reasons why internal controls might fail the test. Here are a few:

• Design – the design of the control is not appropriate for a particular unit or operation.
• People – those responsible for executing the control for whatever reason choose not to
• execute the control.
• Training – those responsible for executing controls have not received appropriate
• training.
• Policy and Procedure changes – either we’ve changed the way we do business but have not updated our formal Policies and Procedures directives, or we have updated our formal Policies and
• Procedures directives and not effectively communicated those changes to those who need to know.

Who will be responsible for maintaining SOX compliance after September 30, 2010?

We have until September 30, 2010 to become compliant. We must remain compliant thereafter. The SOX PMO will establish an ongoing monitoring process for long-term SOX compliance. Postal Service leadership, including the Postmaster General, Chief Financial Officer, and all other officers, must continue encouraging and supporting SOX compliance to establish and maintain a strong internal control program as a way of doing business beyond 2010.

» PROCESS FOR ONLINE RATINGS RECOURSE IN PES (pdf)

It was rumored that since unit and composite scores were so low then CORE should be as well. Once again, someone must not understand how the process works. Just because I had a retail revenue goal 8 percent above SPLY in a declining economy and ended up in cell zero, did not make me a non-contributor in financial management. The same would be true for TOE. My plan was set above an achievable goal, complicated by a dollar rate adjustment that the AVP’s can’t explain, and costs within the non-personnel lines that were not covered with a plan; so I did not make TOE. This does not make me a non-contributor in Leadership and Communication. In fact, many evaluators saw this and tried to show their appreciation for our success during these trying times with earned CORE scores and had the scores changed on them.

We can’t change leadership-yet. However, there is a process in place and let’s hope where wrong can be documented and demonstrated, that the right thing will be done.

Recourse is available after you receive your CORE rating. It is different than mitigating as recourse addresses CORE and mitigating addresses unit scores. It is too late for mitigating. Recourse must be filed within 45 days of receiving your rating. The timeline for Recourse this year begins February 5th. Recourse is entered into PES and submitted to evaluator. You must input justification, documentation and request the rating you believe you deserve. You need to spend some time with this so your argument can be won. You have time to start working on your justification by putting it into a Word document first and then cut and paste into PES when the system opens up.

Within 10 days, the evaluator initiates a discussion. Document this discussion.

If agreement is reached during this follow-up, the evaluator submits the request to the next higher level for action. An email is sent to the employee.

If denied, the employee has the option within 10 days to submit to the next higher level evaluator.

If the evaluator agrees and it is sent to the next higher level and they also agree, then the desired ratings are submitted to the lead cluster PCES Executive. If Denied at this level, the employee is notified by email. The employee is able to review final recourse information in PES.

In the case of Postmasters, it is going from our evaluator to the Cluster PCES. In the case of our manager or our supervisors, then it would follow the steps above.

If the PCES Cluster/Lead Executive agrees with the employee’s documentation and rationale, the executive submits the desired ratings and rationale to the Vice Presidents for Action. If denied, an email response is sent to the employee. The employee is able to review final recourse in PES.

The entire process is not to exceed 90 days.

Due to the circumstances around CORE scores this year, LEAGUE Headquarters wants all denials brought to their attention.

Attached you will find a flow chart that further explains the timelines for recourse.

Date is April 30 thru May 2, 2010

Meeting and training will be held in the mornings only. Afternoons are open to adventures, spa treatments, shopping galore and golf. Convention will end at noon on Sunday the 2nd. Convention registration will include:

• Made to order breakfast each day
• Free luncheon on Friday for all
• Banquet Saturday night and Entertainment
• Special Auction Friday night

This convention is your chance to bring your spouse and kids on a wonderful three day adventure. While you’re attending morning meetings, they can be at the spa or in the heated indoor pool. The afternoon is all yours to relax and do what ever you want. In the evening, it’s about having fun and good fellowship with your League family.

Those arriving Thursday evening, please plan on getting together for a dinner at a local restaurant.

www.embassysuitesloveland.com
970-593-6200

CALL OR GO ONLINE TODAY
Tell them your with the League

BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY AT
www.embassysuitesloveland.com

My name is Richard Sprague and I’m extremely mad at both the Postal Service and my family, the League. Friday I was handing out paychecks to my Clerks and noticed, as I’m sure you did, they received a contractual pay raise. The Clerks received a 1.2% raise and the Carriers received a 1.9% raise. That along with a COLA raise last fall of 6%. Friday the Postal Service informed us they would not make adjustments to the revenue side of NPA, which could have resulted in many, many more Postmasters getting a pay raise. As it stands right now, somewhere between 60% and 80% of our family members will not get a pay raise this year. I don’t understand how the USPS can say you are in charge of our employees but we are not going to pay you for it. We as a Postmaster’s take all the risk and are the leadership of this organization that holds everything together. You say, well Rick, the Postal Service is in financial trouble. I say, this is true but then why isn’t everyone giving up their pay raises or COLA? You say, Headquarters is not getting anything. I say, if I got the pay raise the PMG and the other senior staff got two years ago, I wouldn’t be asking either. For the small percentage of members getting a pay raise, the maximum you can get added to your pay base is 2.25%. The remaining will come in a one time lump payment. I bring this up because the craft raises are not limited to ceilings and their raises will be part of their high three, resulting in earnings well into their retirement. This lack of raises for our members will have an effect for the rest of their life. This entire pay system we are under is nothing less than criminal in my opinion. First, we have no say in any of your bench marks. We do not get to give input on our revenue goal or our TOE budget; in fact we have no say in really anything anymore. When we have a legitimate mitigating factor (the economy) they do not honor the program and give the forgiveness.

This brings me to our League family and why I’m so mad at this family. First, we are in this position because of ourselves, due to the fact we have trusted the Postal Leadership to do the right thing over the years. We have kept from going after Congressional help for fear of making things worse or having Headquarters mad at us. We have over the years given away all our bargaining power to the USPS. A prime example is the loss of our convention leave and now our lack of a pay raise. We have no recourse because they have the legal right to do this. Do you think they would do this to APWU or NALC? You say, well we are not a union, this is correct but do you have to be union to have bargaining power at the table. We are continually asked to give more because they have no fear of us or desire to follow the agreement we think we have with them.

We need to draw the line in the sand. This is where all of us as members need to demand that our national officers draw up a new plan to get back to where we are in control. Control over getting fair and honest pay raises for all we do and to protect our benefits. First we need to demand that we get out of NPA once and for all. We need to enlist Congressional help in getting a seat at the table where we are at minimal getting what the craft gets for raises and COLA. We need a greater say in how our budgets and expense budgets are handed out.

For years I have been member of both organizations, I dropped NAPUS a number of years ago, mainly because I felt League was much more like a family. As a family, I thought League would be a stronger organization, they would fight harder for me because isn’t that what family does for each other. I have believed in this fact so much that I’m in my ninth year as the Colorado President. I even ran for a national VP seat. I met the love of my live thru this family. So please understand when I criticize or hold the national board accountable, I do it as a family member who cares. And when I ask you for you help in demanding change, it is out of respect for the family. Please contact the following national board members and tell them to draw the line in the sand NOW!!!! This is the strongest thing we can do for our family members who are getting no pay raise this year. We cannot be silent as elected state officials.

Charles W. Mapa – cmapa@postmasters.org

John F. Jameson, III – jj3nc@intrstar.net

Shelly M. Souders – rsstigall@wk.net

Robert J. Bittner – bobcath@optonline.net

John E. Olson – olson233@runestone.net

Kelly A. McCartney – athiker40@att.net

William P. Brennan – wishigan@aol.com

Please send this out to every member of the League family so their voices can be heard.

In the next couple of months the USPS will be opening up vacant positions. On December 29, the first waive will start with supervisor positions. This will be followed by level 20 and above positions being posted. Finally, all other positions will be opened up.

The reason I’m sharing this news to you today is to ask for your help and encouragement to assist in filling these positions. In the past couple of years we have lost some excellent managers and Postmasters. This District is in great need of strong leaders to replace those we have lost or are about to lose over the next few years. We all know folks out there who would make excellent supervisors or Postmasters. They just need our encouragement and help in taking the step to join us. Please share this information with those folks and also make yourself available to help mentor them as someone did for you when you took that leap. Someone thought enough about your value to give you an opportunity, now it’s your turn to pass the opportunity on to a new person.

For those of you who are looking for upward mobility, I encourage you to get your profile at e-careers ready to go. If you need help PEDC is available to assist you in getting this accomplished.

We have also attached information on our website about the first waive of positions being posted. The attached files contain information on the time line for filling those positions and also what you need to do.

As your President if I can help, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Richard Sprague
richard.f.sprague@usps.gov

We are moving swiftly into the busiest time of year. While we, on the one hand, want this time to be very busy so that we have phenomenal revenues for the health of the Postal Service, on the other hand, we hope that we will have enough employees to share in all the work that will need to be done. This has always been my favorite time of year. There was always something special about Christmas in the post office. In spite of the challenges and many burdens that will come with this season, I hope that you too will take some time to enjoy the good things of this particular time of year!

I have had great success with getting laterals approved through Pat Donahoe at Postal Headquarters. Timing here, however, is extremely important. I think we may have a window of about another week, perhaps a little more. If you, or a Postmaster friend or branch members desire a lateral, please provide me with name, current office and level, desired office and level, and a very brief narrative on why the move is desired (closer to home, hometown, sick relative, etc). This would include downgrades. It is best, but not essential, that the lateral has already been requested of the district. I have had some laterals approved in about two hours. If you’ve had your eye on the vacant post office in your home town, now is your chance to be placed there.

Be sure to go to our website during the weekend to register for the League’s Legislative Forum. As always, this will be a great event.

For those branches who have already returned your paperwork (requested by Dec 1) on your state convention, thank you very much! I see, that just about every convention will be running over a weekend. That is a great move as it will require Postmasters to use much less Annual Leave. For those of you who have not returned your paperwork, please do soon as speaker priority is given to branches that get their forms in first.

Enjoy your weekends!

Respectfully,

Charley Mapa

There are plenty of things going on throughout the League and I appreciate each of your involvement in these initiatives.

First, regarding the VOE, for those of you who have seen fit to support us in not doing the VOE, thank you. We can let our voice be heard by not completing the VOE this quarter. Please do not ask your employees to not do the VOE; this is for Postmasters only.

Linda Rumney (Membership Chair), Jack Jameson (Advisor), Mark Strong and the rest of the Membership Committee have worked hard to put together a very effective membership plan. Your involvement in implementing this plan are essential to its success. Many states worked together with the committee to customize the letters sent by the national office to prospects in their states. They included upcoming 3-digit meetings and branch leadership lists to make the letters work well in a state’s efforts. Once the letters go out, your follow-up will be the most important step in the process. Some branches are sending additional letters, others have planned office visits and others will follow up with phone calls; some plan to do all of these things. Jack Jameson has worked with some branches to make sure that Postmasters have district coordinators to represent Postmasters at the district. Your assistance in these efforts will go a long way to strengthen the League in every branch.

Another very healthy trend that is occurring is that many branches are hosting 3-digit meetings. Attached is a PDF of a template for 3-digit meetings that Linda Rumney, President of the West Virginia Branch, put together. Already, hundreds of Postmasters in West Virginia and other branches have taken advantage of these meetings. This is grassroots League at its best! In a training-starved Postal Service this is a great place for Postmasters to get some training on subjects that they need. At 3-digit meetings, Postmasters get to talk about issues that need to be addressed in their own districts, and, of course, Postmaster have opportunities to network on ways to help one another. These meetings strengthen local branches and increase membership. At one recent, very effective 3-digit meeting in Texas, 11 Postmasters signed up to be League members. If you need advice on how to conduct such a meeting (beyond the above attachment from Linda Rumney) feel free to contact any of your National Board members. These meetings are easy to put on; all you need is a place, a time and an agenda.

Last week, in response to a letter from me to Jack Potter and Pat Donahoe, and at the urging of Naps and Napus, Postal Headquarters met with the associations to discuss NPA. Our immediate concern was the reduction of the value of core requirements for Postmasters from 20% to 10% and supervisors from 30% to 10%. Because of our objections, this change was rescinded. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss other proposals to improve the process that the Postal Service so far had refused to implement.

We took advantage of this meeting to address other issues that are important to Managers. We asked again for an incentive is provided to Postmasters similar to that offered to the APWU and mail handlers. We were told that an incentive would not be extended to Postmasters because it is not a position that they are looking to reduce numbers for, in other words, there are no extra Postmasters that they would like to have leave the Postal Service. Almost 18,000 clerks took advantage of the cash incentive to leave, and most of those will be from mail processing operations. I reminded Mr. Donahoe that, although most of the clerks may be leaving the plants, we are already seeing that many post offices will suffer significant impacts from clerks in those offices leaving the Postal Service. I told him that a month ago, the League presented a plan that could be implemented in districts to reduce the impact of lost clerks by repositioning our existing workforce to help cover offices and to get authorized complement into those offices as quickly as possible. He asked our help in identifying areas that are left shorthanded by the departure of clerks for the incentive.

We asked the DPMG when Postmaster positions would be filled, and he told us that that should be happening now. I suggested to him that this is a good time to honor requests for laterals. He agreed and told us to get the names of Postmasters requesting laterals to him. As I told you last week, if you, or a fellow Postmaster desires a lateral, send your request immediately to your district. If you are denied by your district, I can immediately forward your request to Postal Headquarters.

The management organizations expressed the concern that offices with supervisors are not being budgeted enough hours to cover what is needed for supervision. In addition, a program called iSWCs is being used to reduce supervisor coverage in lieu of our regular SWCs. Mr. Donahoe told us that iSWCs would no longer be used to staff and budget and that he would work with us to address coverage issues.

The organizations had strong feelings that reducing the Stamp Distribution offices from 65 offices to 6 would create even more difficulty for Postmasters and managers to get stamps in a timely manner. I suggested also that many Postmasters have had their stock limits reduced so significantly that they often don’t have enough stock on hand during times of higher demand or for customers who have greater needs. The DPMG promised to look into the possibility of raising office’s limits.

We received a brief update on the FSS implementations. These systems are still being pushed out to the field, however, there have been some significant drawbacks. When the machines are running well, they do a great job, but currently, they have been experiencing some problems that cause missorting. The Postal Service is working with its service contractors to identify the source of the system bugs and to get them resolved.

Last but not least, I’d like to say a little bit about our League family. Recently, retired League Postmaster Linda Ingram from West Virginia underwent chemotherapy. Apparently, things are progressing well for her and she will have an opportunity to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The Bone Marrow Transplant program is one that has the support of the Postal Service, and of course, the support of the League of Postmasters. Some of you, like Debra Alums of Alabama and Linda Rumney of West Virginia, have taken leadership roles in promoting the program. Certainly we are all challenged every day by our positions in the Postal Service, but I would submit, that situations like that of Linda Ingram remind us that there are far more important things than the Postal Service. If you are not currently on the list of potential bone marrow donors, consider adding your name to that registry by contacting your district for information. Each year, over 10,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia or other life-threatening diseases for which a marrow transplant from an unrelated donor may be their only hope for a cure. Here is our opportunity to do something very positive for another human being.

Respectfully,

Charley Mapa
National President