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The charity stamps program is back

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

After no new stamps for years, the U-S is again going to issue more semi-postal, or
charity, stamps.

The U-S Postal Service made a surprise announcement that the first of five of these
surcharged stamps will be released in November. The subject will be Alzheimer's disease.
The exact date, location or which organization will benefit were not announced.

A semi-postal stamp pays the postage for a first-class letter, but costs more than a
regular stamp. At the moment, that's 60 cents — 49 cents for postage and 11 cents for a
designated charity.

The first was for Breast Cancer Research in 1998, and it was supposed to go off sale
after a while. However, Congress has insisted it stay on sale. Other semi-postals have
helped 9-11 workers, stopping family violence and endangered species. Then the program
stalled… partly mired in politics.

Now, five more stamps are promised over the next ten years.

I’m Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
and the latest on the Alzheimer's semi-postal, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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