Daily printout: Nov. 5

USPS Operation Santa opened registration for letter adopters on Nov. 2, with the program encouraging participants to consider fulfilling family requests this holiday season.

“Every year we receive thousands of letters filled with holiday wishes — often outnumbering available adopters — many letters come from entire households,” said Sheila Holman, the Postal Service’s vice president of marketing. “To help these families, we encourage companies and organizations to form teams to adopt a household together, ensuring everyone in the home can share in the joy of the holidays.”

For security reasons, all prospective adopters must complete a short registration and ID verification process before participating. This applies even if someone has adopted a letter in the past.

Approved adopters can begin selecting letters and shopping for gifts Nov. 16.

The Postal Service is again working with Toys R Us to provide Santa’s Gift Shoppe, an online gift catalog to give adopters an easy way to buy and ship gifts directly to recipients.

The USPS Operation Santa website has additional information for letter writers and adopters.

Letter adopters should send gifts by Saturday, Dec. 12.

The Postal Service’s Chief Processing and Distribution Office has been reorganized to include Engineering Systems.

The move is intended to better support the redesign and modernization of USPS mail processing capabilities by bringing together the two functions in one department.

Amit Cholkar, Engineering Systems vice president, and his group now report to Isaac Cronkhite, chief processing and distribution officer.

These employees will continue to report to the Engineering Systems vice president:

• Bradley J. McCullough, technology development and application senior director;

• Todd M. Schimmel, technology acquisition and program management senior director;

• Shahpour Ashaari, engineering software and testing director; and

• Reggie Taylor, administration and building services manager.

These employees will move from the Chief Technology Office to Engineering Systems:

• Kevin Couch, maintenance operations senior director;

• Peachy Lorenzo, plant modernization director; and

• Mit J. Desai, plant design methods and standards executive manager.

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The Postal Service dedicated its new Diwali stamp on Oct. 21 at the Embassy of India in Washington, DC.

Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, celebrates the triumph of good over evil and is recognized by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and other South Asian religious communities.

“Since 1893, the Postal Service has issued stamps commemorating the cultures of people who have come from around the world,” said Shibani Gambhir, USPS revenue operations senior vice president, who served as the dedicating official. “These stamps reflect our nation’s rich, diverse heritage — and we are proud of our efforts to recognize the people, customs and traditions that shape America.”

Joining Gambhir for the ceremony were Vinay Kwatra, India’s ambassador to the United States, and Houston-based artist Sangita Bhutada, who created the stamp artwork.

The stamp depicts a colorful rangoli, a traditional Indian artform featuring floral imagery and geometric shapes. During the holiday, it is customary for people to create rangolis in and around their homes as they are thought to bring good fortune.

Jennifer Arnold designed the stamp and William Gicker served as the project’s art director. Bijay Dixit was the photographer. It is the second Diwali stamp design since the first was introduced in 2016.

On the Hindu calendar, Diwali falls on the eve of — or on — the new moon that occurs between mid-October and mid-November. This year, the five-day festival begins Nov. 6.

The stamp is available in sheets of 20 at Post Offices and at usps.com.

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