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| Postal service has raised $71 million since 1998 |
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Friday, October 19, 2012
By STACEY HAIRSTON - Staff Writer
As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, local post offices are offering special charity stamps to raise money for breast cancer research.
The non-denominated, first-class stamp is sold in sheets of 20 at 55 cents each, according to the postal service website. The price pays for the first-class postage rate in effect at the time of purchase. The rest is donated to breast cancer research.
"Ten cents from the sale of each stamp goes towards breast cancer research," said Sonny Pruitt, postmaster of the Rocky Mount Post Office.
The stamp was first introduced on July 29, 1998, at a ceremony at the White House. It was the first charity stamp issued in U.S. history.
So far, the stamp has raised over $71 million for breast cancer research. By law, 70 percent of the net amount raised is given to the National Institutes of Health, and 30 percent is given to the Medical Research Program at the Department of Defense.
The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Md., and features the phrases "Fund the Fight" and "Find a Cure." An illustration of a mythical "goddess of the hunt" was designed by Whitney Sherman of Baltimore, Md., and is depicted on the front of the stamp.
The 2012 Holiday stamp series "Santa and Sleigh Forever" is also on sale now. The stamp depicts Santa and his reindeer directing a toy-filled sleigh towards a snow-covered rooftop. Santa's annual journey is captured in this block of four holiday stamps. The holiday stamps are 44 cents each.
These and other stamps can be previewed on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter@USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service's online site for back stories on upcoming stamp subjects and first-day-of-issue events.
For more information about the Breast Cancer Research stamp or the 2012 holiday stamps, you may also visit the postal service website at www.usps.com. |
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