US Postal Service - Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp
My guest blogger is Lisa Greenwade. She is a part of the stamp development team at the U.S. Postal Service. Her goal is to educate people about stamps that might be of interest to them and their communities.Net proceeds from sales of the Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp are distributed to the National Institutes of Health, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, all part of a national effort to find ways to prevent, treat, and someday stop this heartbreaking disease. In its first 13 months on the market, the US Postal Service has sold 5.4 million Alzheimer’s Stamps, raising $771,000 for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded dementia research. But we only have the semipostal through November 2019. Please take a moment to read this post to see why it's important that we support by purchasing this stamp.
The U.S. Postal Service® is proud to issue this semipostal stamp that helps raise funds to fight Alzheimer’s disease. As one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s destroys the minds of the people affected by it and poses enormous challenges for family members and caregivers. Today, Americans are increasingly committed to finding ways to prevent, treat, and someday stop this heartbreaking disease.
The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. It is a progressive, irreversible disorder that attacks nerve cells, or neurons, and their connections in the brain, causing memory loss, decrease in cognitive skill, and changes in behavior. The disease is named for Alois Alzheimer, the German physician who in 1906 discovered and described two hallmark signs of the disease in the brain—clumps of amyloid protein fragments and tangles of tau protein fibers—and linked them to observable symptoms. More than 5.3 million Americans age 65 and older are estimated to have Alzheimer’s disease, a number predicted to rise as the population ages. The nation has also turned its attention to the type of dementia known as younger-onset or early-onset Alzheimer's, which affects individuals under age 65. In addition to the loss of memory and thinking abilities and ultimate decline for the person with the disease, Alzheimer's is infamous for the emotional and financial toll it can take on loved ones. Alzheimer's experts emphasize the importance of education and strongly encourage caregivers to reach out to local and national agencies and organizations for information and support. The artist for this stamp was Matt Mahurin. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp.
Sold at a price of 65 cents per First-Class™ stamp, this stamp is a semipostal. The price of a semipostal stamp pays for the First-Class™ single-piece postage rate in effect at the time of purchase plus an amount to fund causes that have been determined to be in the national public interest. Net proceeds from this stamp are distributed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For a closer look or to order the Alzheimer semipostal stamps, visit the online Postal Store® at
or call 800-STAMP-24.
