Postal Service employees helped raise awareness of heart disease throughout February, which is American Heart Month.
Some facilities hosted health fairs where employees received diet and exercise tips, blood pressure screenings and more.
The Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center went a step further, offering employees bottled water and fruit and encouraging them to share their success stories.
Motor Operator Tongia Johnson-Brown told co-workers she lost 50 pounds during the past eight months by adopting a healthier lifestyle. “I walk and changed my eating habits,” said Johnson-Brown, adding that she eliminated junk food and soda from her diet.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, accounting for approximately 1 in every 4 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
USPS also marked the month by encouraging employees to use the Wellness Toolkit page on LiteBlue to access heart disease prevention resources.
Additionally, employees were invited to participate in National Wear Red Day Feb. 2.
For employees in Southern Area’s Louisiana District, Feb. 2 was special.
“Several of them have family, friends and even co-workers who have succumbed to heart disease and they wanted to remember them on this day,” said Alma Stone, customer services supervisor at the Deridder, LA, Post Office.
“We had numerous customers ask why the postal employees were wearing red that day, so they passed along their story of how heart disease has affected them personally.”