‘Help save the Post Office.’ Boosters buy stamps as agency struggles in pandemic
Fans of the U.S. Post Office are encouraging people to buy stamps to help the service rally as it faces budget shortfalls in the coronavirus pandemic, NPR reports.
Mail volume has dropped by nearly a third since the pandemic hit the United States, leaving the Post Office, which is self-supporting, with a projected $13 billion shortfall, according to the network.
President Donald Trump has rejected calls for a federal bailout, threatening to veto the CARES Act stimulus if it included funding for the USPS, according to The Washington Post.
Now people are buying stamps to help the agency out.
The campaign has taken to Twitter, where people are posting photos of their newly purchased stamps and encouraging others to take part.
“If just half of the adults in the US bought a sheet of 20 stamps it would raise about $1.5 Billion. There are some really cool ones right now — Woodstock, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, the 50th anniversary of the 1st moon landing,” reads one post on Twitter.
“Want to do your part saving the country? BUY A BOOK OF STAMPS,” another reads.
“I just ordered stamps to help save the post office and there’s something about the irony of a teacher desperately buying stamps to save democracy that has me shook to the core,” wrote one postal supporter on Twitter.
“Love the campaign to bulk order stamps. I love stamps!! But insane that we’re basically participating in a GoFundMe to save the post office,” reads another Twitter post.
So many people are buying stamps online that the Post Office website has crashed for some purchasers, NPR reports.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 2:22 PM with the headline "‘Help save the Post Office.’ Boosters buy stamps as agency struggles in pandemic."