News Briefs

Post Offices Closed in Observance of Thanksgiving

Peak Season Means Extra Mail and Package Volumes

There will be no regular mail delivery or retail services available on Thursday, Nov. 25, as postal employees across the commonwealth celebrate Thanksgiving. But our carriers will still be delivering Priority Express and other guaranteed next day services.

This holiday, the Postal Service is reminding customers to shop and ship early. Our online store is open 24/7 at usps.com and boasts plenty of gift-giving ideas from T-shirts to framed prints, toys and tote bags.

The 2020 holiday season was a record-setting year for the Postal Service. Specifically, 13 billion letters, cards and packages were processed and delivered under some of the most difficult circumstances we’ve faced in the past century.

For the 2021 peak season — the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day — the Postal Service will deliver more mail and packages to homes than any other shipper. It’s anticipated that between 850 million and 950 million packages will be delivered for the holidays. The total number of letters, cards and packages processed and delivered is estimated to be more than 12 billion.

The Postal Service will expand Sunday delivery, beginning Nov. 28, to locations with high package volumes. USPS already delivers packages on Sundays in most major cities and expects to deliver more than 9.7 million packages each Sunday throughout the holiday season. Mail carriers will also deliver packages for an additional fee on Christmas Day in select locations.

The Postal Service plans all year for the peak holiday season. This year’s preparations include leasing 7.5 million square feet of additional space across more than 40 annexes to handle the increase in the number of packages being mailed. The Postal Service is also currently hiring for more than 40,000 seasonal positions to help process and deliver the mail.

Since April, the Postal Service has installed 97 of 112 new package sorting machines, reflecting the Postmaster General’s “Delivering for America” plan’s $40 billion of planned investment over 10 years. Additionally, more than 50 machines that can sort large packages are expected to be up and running prior to December. The new machinery gives the Postal Service the capacity to process an additional 4.5 million packages each day.

Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent for Adoption Month

 The Home for Little Wanderers announced today that it has opened registration for a required education program for people interested in becoming adoptive or foster parents in recognition of Adoption Month. People interested in becoming foster or adoptive parents can apply to attend the free, 30-hour Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP) education program from 5:30-8:30 PM every Monday and Friday starting on January 10, 2022 and ending on February 10, 2022.

In Massachusetts, there are over 2,800 children in foster care with a goal of adoption and over 1,200 of these children have no identified adoption resource such as a relative or foster parent.

“The child welfare system is not designed to raise children. We are here for support and healing when they need us, but children deserve to grow up in a warm, loving home,” said Lesli Suggs, LICSW, President and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers. “Children need to know that they have a permanent adult in their life to take care of them and to help them grow into well-rounded adults. Children who grow up without a permanent family and “age out” of the child welfare system are more likely to experience homelessness, substance abuse, and be involved in the criminal justice system. The love and support of a family can make all the difference.”

The Home’s adoption and foster programs provide all the necessary training, licensing, matching, and supportive services for families to adopt or foster. The Home encourages adoptive and foster parents from all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic backgrounds and religions. Adoptive or foster parents can be couples or single individuals. Children come from a variety of backgrounds and many have experienced multiple types of maltreatment such as neglect or abuse. To learn more about becoming an adoptive or foster parent, visit www.thehome.org/adoption or contact The Home at (617)-288-7450, [email protected], or [email protected]

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