One cancelled stamp may be light as a feather but put a pile of them together and you have the foundation for a whole lot of help for people with cancer.
The Order of the Eastern Star members in B.C. and Yukon, including the Princess Pine Chapter 67 in Williams Lake, have been collecting cancelled stamps for many years and selling them to interested buyers as part of their Stamp Out Cancer campaign.
Money raised by the sale of the stamps provides for cancer research projects and the purchase of materials which volunteers use to make medical dressings for cancer patients.
The Princess Pine members are among local chapters in B.C. and Yukon who volunteer their time to collect stamps and to make the bandages which are provided to cancer patients at no charge on a doctor’s request.
“Williams Lake sent in over 50 pounds of used stamps in the 12-month period ending April 30, 2016,” says Hope Humm, who has been collecting stamps from local businesses and individuals for many years.
“Just think how much a stamp weighs and how many it takes to make 50 pounds.”
The locally collected stamps were sent to the Foster Secretary Association, Order of the Eastern Star B.C./Yukon for distribution, helping to bring the provincial total in fundraising for this reporting period to $6,277.65.
Humm says the Order of the Eastern Star also collects and has a market for Campbell’s Soup labels, pull tabs from pop and beer cans and for used and unused postcards.
She notes that stamps should not be cut off the used postcards.
Humm extends her sincere appreciation to all of the businesses and individuals who willingly save, collect, trim and sort cancelled stamps for the program.
Since the stamp collection program began in 1954, she says the Order of the Eastern Star in B.C. and Yukon has raised $457,025.51 for its cancer projects.
“Without your continued support and help we could not keep up our good work,” Humm says. “A special thanks to all the businesses and organizations that help with our project.”