Postal Service Sending Military Mail to Haiti

News provided by

Feb 23, 2010, 10:00 ET

Efforts to Establish Temporary Civilian Mail Distribution Site Continue

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service is delivering letters and packages bound for members of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed to Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response. The initial wave of military mail is flowing into Toussaint Louverture International Airport at Port-au-Prince in coordination with the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) to support the overall USAID effort in Haiti.

"We're pleased to support our military personnel serving in Haiti with the vital connection to home that comes through the mail," said Pranab Shah, managing director and vice president, Global Business. "We'll continue to work closely with MPSA to ensure our service members receive their mail during this challenging humanitarian mission."

The Postal Service has assigned a total of 20 APO, FPO, and DPO ZIP Codes at the request of MPSA for the efficient distribution of mail destined for military units serving in Haiti. The Postal Service also continues to support civilian recovery efforts by donating water and medical supplies while staging vehicles, portable buildings and mail sorting equipment for deployment to Haiti.

Efforts to establish a temporary civilian mail distribution site in Port-au-Prince are continuing on an international scale through the coordinated efforts of a task force led by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), Haiti Post and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). USPIS Chief Postal Inspector William R. Gilligan Jr. serves as chairman of UPU's Postal Security Action Group, and U.S. Postal Inspectors recently completed an initial security assessment of mail operations and capabilities in Haiti, representing the first step in reestablishing limited mail distribution operations in Port-au-Prince in order for the civilian population to begin receiving letters and packages.

Post Offices are continuing to accept letter mail and packages addressed to the nation of Haiti. However, all mail addressed to Haiti will be temporarily held by the Postal Service until the postal administration of Haiti is able to accept mail.

Additional information regarding acceptance and movement of mail to Haiti will be provided as it becomes available. Updates are posted online at http://www.usps.com/international/serviceupdates.htm#H17.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service