Carrier Alert

The Associated Press reports that New York City letter carriers will be watching out for their elderly customers as part of the USPS revived Carrier Alert program.

The National Association of Letter Carriers supports the program and says "there have been hundreds of cases nationwide of homebound people being saved because their letter carriers noticed something amiss."

According to the AP, "The Carrier Alert program was created decades ago in New York and many other cities nationwide but fizzled out over the years. In some areas, it has experienced a recent resurgence, and now New York is rejoining the initiative, linking it with the city's 311 telephone information hot line so that carriers have one central place to call."

Robert Durek, USPS New York district manager and postmaster is quoted in the article as saying, "For seniors who feel isolated, or if they're homebound, our letter carriers are sometimes the only point of contact they have with the outside world. Our carriers are on the street six days a week and often provide the extra eyes and ears while they are delivering mail."

For more on Carrier Alert, click here.