Nonprofit Reduces Care Packages Sent To Military Personnel After Postal Price Hike

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Some groups that send care packages to troops overseas say they're dealing with a postal price hike that keeps them from fulfilling their mission of serving others.

Each year, David Silver and volunteers from his nonprofit Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey prepare nearly 2,000 care packages and send them to military personnel overseas.

"They hold 30-40 pounds of stuff we all take for granted here at home," Silver said.

They cost about $30 a box in postage but this year, the number sent to military personnel in the middle east will be cut in half as postal prices have gone up.

A USPS spokesperson says the hike is due to military mail processing locations being quote "consolidated at our Chicago-based processing hub, rather than multiple postal hubs on the East and West coasts."

The full USPS response is the following:

To better service our military, virtually all mail and packages sent from the U.S. to international Air/Army/Fleet/ and Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) locations are now consolidated at our Chicago-based processing hub rather than multiple Postal hubs on the east and west coasts.

Certain zone-based shipping prices for outbound military mail are based on weight and proximity of the shipment's origin to our processing hub. With this consolidation, some customers will pay less for shipping and some will pay more based on their distance from the Chicago processing hub.

The Postal Service continues to offer an excellent value to customers, with other shipping options available as alternatives. For example, our flat rate boxes (FRB) are popular and affordable ways to send packages to the troops.

The 2018 Priority Mail retail prices include APO/FPO/DPO small FRBs at $7.20, medium FRBs at $13.65 and large FRBs at $17.40. These flat rate prices provide convenient options for sending parcels to military addresses.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations. Changes to improve our operations are being made so we can reduce costs and remain competitive in the marketplace, to be able to continue to serve the public in the most efficient, cost-effective way possible.

The Postal Service is proud to be one of the nation's largest civilian employers of veterans. We thank the men and women serving in the armed forces for all they do and appreciate their dedicated service to our country.

Silver says, "The option really for us is to reduce the amount of packages we send by half, just to break even. This postal increases affects the nonprofits but it really affects the men and women who are opening up these boxes."

Army Sgt. Lizz DeVenny served two tours in Kuwait and she received a care package from Operation Yellow Ribbon.

"It's like a Christmas and birthday gift and you don't know what's in it," DeVenny said.

She says the packages are often shared and are vitally important, especially for those from poorer backgrounds.

"It's me giving it to my battle buddies, saying 'Hey, do you need this? Hey do you need that?'"

That's why both Sgt. DeVenny and Silver are hoping the USPS reverses their decision.

"This is the wrong decision," Silver said. "You're penalizing service members and their families."

Sgt. DeVenney said, "This is something that is impacting us and impacting morale. And you just need take a re-look at it and redo this."