Letters to the editor: New postmaster in Williamsport; new services at Martinsburg VA

Delivering for America and Williamsport

To the editor:

I am honored to be the new postmaster of Williamsport. The level of engagement with the employees and customers is what attracted me to this community.

In my new role, I want everyone to realize the benefits the post office offers to both employees, potential new hires, and customers and I’ll do my best to lead by example in the community. I began my career in 2006 as a rural carrier in New Market and later a supervisor in that office. I became Postmaster of Jefferson, MD in 2018 and the opportunity of personal and professional growth presented itself in Williamsport.

The U.S. Postal Service has been hard at work preparing for the holiday season since January. Rest assured, we’re holiday ready and well prepared to deliver fast and reliable service to every address in Williamsport and across America.

USPS has made significant investments to ensure your holiday greeting cards and packages reach their intended destination on-time. We’ve added 249 new package sorting machines across the nation which will allow us to process 60 million packages per day. This new equipment is part of $40 billion in new investments made under Delivering for America, our 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence.

The 650,000 men and women of the U.S. Postal Service pride ourselves on playing an important role in delivering the holidays for the nation. We’ve had more than 100,000 part-time employees convert to full time positions since January 2021. And there is still time to join our team for the holiday season. Open seasonal positions are posted at usps.com/hiring.

Thank you for continuing to support the Postal Service. Our Williamsport team wishes you a wonderful holiday season.

Erin DickinsonPostmasterWilliamsport

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Director of Martinsburg VA notes expanded health care and benefits

To the editor:

At the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, every day is Veterans Day. This year marks an especially exciting observance as we embark upon implementing the PACT Act, which is a historic new law that expands VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances.

This new law empowers VA to provide generations of veterans — and their survivors — with the care and benefits they earned by adding to the list of health conditions that VA presumes are caused by toxic exposure.

It’s our solemn duty at the Martinsburg VAMC to serve all eligible veterans, including those impacted by toxic exposure. The expanded health care eligibility outlined in the PACT Act allows veterans to become eligible for VA care or increases the health care benefits for impacted veterans already receiving care.

If you are veteran and haven’t already done so, I implore you to enroll for VA care. If you are already enrolled, please reach out to your battle buddies to make sure they too are enrolled to secure their earned VA benefits.

Visit VA.gov to apply. Any veteran or survivor can learn more by visiting VA.gov/PACT or calling 800-MY-VA-411.

This Veterans Day, may we always be grateful for the heroes who answered the call to serve, and may we forever honor those who defended us all.

Kenneth W. AllensworthMedical center directorMartinsburg VA Medical Center

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Franklin County Friends of Legal Services says thanks for book sale help

To the editor:

The Franklin County Friends of Legal Services group wants to thank everyone who contributed to the tremendous success of our 36^th annual Friends of Legal Services Book Sale in September. The sale was our biggest ever, and all the proceeds will go to provide legal help in civil cases for low-income families and individuals in our area.

The local businesses and offices that served as donation sites, the thousands of people who donated books, and the volunteers who transported, sorted, priced and sold them all deserve our thanks and the thanks of the community. We are particularly grateful to F&M Trust; the law firm of DiLoreto, Cosentino and Bolinger; Kegerreis Outdoor Advertising; M&T Bank; Orrstown Bank; and Volvo Construction for sponsoring the sale.

Ellen GigliottiPresidentFranklin County Friends of Legal Services

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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: New Williamsport postmaster says hi; VA medical director touts service