It’s not junk mail: Don’t throw out this post card

By: Clara Pasieka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: Telegraph-Journal

Prepaid postcards have started arriving in households across New Brunswick courtesy of Canada Post.

Don’t toss them aside; the intent is to send them on to someone else.

Canada Post in sending every household a prepaid postcard, or approximately 13.5 million nationwide, the agency stated in a news release.

Joe Foster, a grandfather in Moncton, said he received his postcard this week and used it to write a message to his granddaughter, Anna-Marie.

Foster, who formerly worked for Canada Post for 35 years before retiring, said he “put it in the red Canada Post mailbox before suppertime yesterday.”

Foster does not live far from his granddaughter, but said he loves the idea of family and friends connecting with little messages and was glad to see the invitation to do so from Canada Post made available

“I know my granddaughter and her mom will be pleased to receive a personal postcard in their mailbox,” he said.

Murielle Redford, in Bouctouche, said she used the opportunity to get creative.

She received her postcard this week and put the names of 14 loved ones who live in Ontario and Quebec in a jar, then picked a name at random; that person would receive the postcard. It made the most sense to send it to someone not in New Brunswick because she can’t see them, she said.

She told her 14 loved ones by email what she was up to, but says which name she drew in the end is something she will keep a surprise until she hears the postcard has arrived.

She mailed her postcard Thursday and praised the initiative.

“Meaningful connection is vital for our emotional health, sense of community and overall well-being,” says Doug Ettinger, president and CEO of Canada Post in a news release. “Canada Post wants everyone to stay safe, but also stay in touch with the people who matter to them.”

The postcards, which come in six different designs, are part of the “Write Here Write Now” program, which Canada Post launched last September to encourage Canadians to use letter writing to create meaningful moments of connections.

But for the postcard initiative, they won’t require a stamp to do so.

Canada Post is encouraging participants to share videos and photos of them taking part using #WriteHereWriteNow.

Postcards can be mailed through any street letter box or community mailbox, or taken to a post office.