Monday, October 5, 2026
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
The annual observance began in 1945 as weeklong recognition
The Postal Service is observing October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The annual commemoration began in 1945 as a weeklong recognition of workers with disabilities and expanded to a full month in 1988.
The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy promotes the observance, whose theme this year is “Celebrating Value and Talent.” The department’s website has an overview of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
“Americans with disabilities have been a part of our nation’s success from the very start. Beginning with our Founding Fathers, there are examples of how Americans with disabilities shaped our nation,” Julie Hocker, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy said in a news release. “This year’s theme honors the value and talent of disabled Americans, past and present.”
Employees with a disability can self-identify, or update a disability already on file, by completing PS Form 2489, Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability.
Information obtained from this form is kept confidential and serves as a tool to improve the recruitment, hiring, advancement and retention of individuals with disabilities. The information is used only to prepare aggregate statistics and not for any purpose that will affect the employee individually. The information is not shared with the employee’s supervisor. PS Form 2489 is not a request for reasonable accommodation.
Employees with disabilities who want to request a reasonable accommodation should contact a Postal Service supervisor or manager, their local human resources manager or their reasonable accommodation committee.
The Disabilities & Reasonable Accommodations page on the MyHR website has more information about reasonable accommodation at USPS.
USPS releases its Christmas Cookies stamps — along with a few tasty bites
The baker who provided the goodies for the images was on hand with her treats
The Postal Service recently released its Christmas Cookies stamps at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, DC.
The unveiling was a part of the museum’s Family Festival, which also featured activities for children as well as a conversation with Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS. Attendees also had the opportunity to meet Kyrie Johnson, the baker of the four cookies that appear on the stamps, and sample replicas baked in her Norfolk, VA, kitchen.
Johnson baked hundreds of the four featured cookies for the event.
“Seeing my cookies on a stamp is surreal,” she said.
Lisa Bobb-Semple, USPS director of stamp services, unveiled the stamps along with Johnson.
“When you think about Christmas time, you think about cookies. These stamps are a perfect way to commemorate the holidays. Kids and grownups alike have a favorite cookie passed down by family recipes,” Bobb-Semple said.
Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps with Johnson. Photographer Sarah Cramer Shields provided the images.
“Each one is decorated with care … just like cookies made in kitchens across the country,” Bobb-Semple said.
The set of four Forever stamps is offered in booklets of 20 and includes a decorated Christmas tree, face of Santa Claus, a wrapped present and a festive stocking.
Both the cookies and stamps were well received at the event.
“The cookies are so gorgeous,” one attendee said. “I bought three books — one for myself and one each for my two siblings.”
The stamps are available at Post Offices and usps.com.
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Heroes
He saw a little boy walking down the road
This rural carrier stayed with the 3-year-old who had wandered away from daycare
Rural Carrier Stephen Sanders was delivering mail in Green Bay, WI, during the winter when he saw a 3-year-old boy walking in the middle of the road without a jacket.
When the Postal Service employee asked the boy if he was OK, the boy replied, “I’m going to see Mom and Dad.”
Sanders got out of his delivery vehicle and walked with the boy. He also called a nearby daycare center to see if any children were missing.
The boy knew where he was going, so Sanders accompanied the child to his home. The boy’s grandmother came out of the house in shock and welcomed the boy inside.
Sanders learned the toddler had been at the daycare facility he called earlier.
The boy’s mother later came into the Post Office to drop off a thank-you card and express her gratitude.
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Sept. 27-Oct. 3
Seasonal stamps and a floating Post Office made news
Link shared a cornucopia of stamp news with readers last week.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when USPS spotlights its Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp. As we reported, the organization’s first semipostal has raised nearly $100 million for its cause since its launch in 1998.
We also ran stories on the release of the new Hanukkah stamp, the ninth design in the series; Madonna and Child, this year’s religiously themed Christmas offering; and the Kwanzaa stamp ceremony, which took place Sept. 23 at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s annual conference.
Link also ran a feature on the MV Sophie C., a floating Post Office on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, looked at the ethics rules surrounding office romances, and shared that the Postal Service’s observance of Energy Action Month this year is highlighting the organization’s increasing use of solar power to decrease its carbon footprint.
We also linked to the latest “Mailin’ It!” podcast, which focuses on the online shopping returns process.
And there was a cautionary tale from the USPS Office of Inspector General: Two Postal Service employees were sentenced to federal prison time and restitution for their role in stealing U.S. Treasury checks at the New York International Service Center at John F. Kennedy Airport.
Finally, in “Heroes,” Rural Carrier Stephen Sanders was delivering mail in Green Bay, WI, last winter when he saw a toddler in the middle of the road without a jacket.
Sanders checked in with the boy, who said he was “going to see Mom and Dad.” The carrier accompanied the toddler to his home, where the child’s shocked grandmother welcomed the wanderer in.
The boy’s mother later dropped off a thank-you card and expressed her gratitude for Sanders’s help at the Post Office.
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
Temporary price changes for holiday season take effect
The Postal Service implemented temporary price changes for some package services for the holiday shipping season on Oct. 4.
The adjustments affect prices on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select.
The changes will remain in place until midnight Central on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2027.
USPS announced the adjustments in August.
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October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
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USPS releases its Christmas Cookies stamps — along with a few tasty bites
-
Heroes
He saw a little boy walking down the road
This rural carrier stayed with the 3-year-old who had wandered away from daycare
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Sept. 27-Oct. 3
Seasonal stamps and a floating Post Office made news
-
Brief
Temporary price changes for holiday season take effect