Aug. 28--Pink balloons and ribbons hang about the La Luz post office. When customers walk in, they ask Postmaster Chris Beatrice if he is celebrating a baby girl.
Beatrice laughs.
"Been there, done that," he says.
Actually, the pink decor symbolizes something completely different a campaign to raise money for breast cancer research.
Beatrice shaved his head in honor of cancer survivors and ordered 10,000 books of special breast cancer awareness stamps for a sell-a-thon.
The stamp-buying drive will continue from today through Saturday when the La Luz post office is open from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
"I was surprised at how many come in saying 'I'm a survivor,'" Beatrice said.
The postmaster's sister-in-law was diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer earlier this year, he said. Beatrice plans to challenge the postmaster of Hutto, Texas, his sister-in-law's town, to match what he raised in La Luz.
"And my grandmother is a 30-year survivor," Beatrice said.
The stamps sell for $11 a book, which amounts to 55 cents apiece.
"That is $2.60 more per book than our regular stamps," Beatrice said. "That money goes to breast cancer research. It's the only stamp Congress allows us to do that way."
The
breast cancer awareness stamp, officially called a semipostal, was issued on July 29, 1998, at a first day ceremony held in the White House. It is the only semipostal in U.S. history.
To date, the stamp has raised over $54 million for breast cancer research.
"I'm hoping this year they find a cure," Beatrice said. "If they can cure one cancer, it could work for everybody. Cancer is cancer is cancer."
Contact Elva K. Osterreich at eosterreich@alamogordonews.com.
-----
To see more of the Alamogordo Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.alamogordonews.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Alamogordo Daily News, N.M.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
