Community mailboxes could be hard on seniors: advocate
Posted December 18, 2013 10:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The head of Canada Post has suggested that seniors are eager to get more fresh air and sunshine while walking to community mailboxes.
“The citizens and the seniors that I spoke to, they want to be active, they want to be living fuller lives,” says Deepak Chopra.
But, the move away from home delivery mail could come with deadly consequences according to one seniors’ advocate.
Art Kube says forcing seniors into using community mailboxes could mean the loss of the letter carriers alert program.
“When they make home delivery and they see for instance, that the newspapers are piling up, usually the first thing they do is they ring the bell to see if someone is responding,” says Kube, a member of the Council of Senior Citizens’ Association of BC.
The next step would be phoning a designated number which would then phone the home to make sure the person living there was ok.
“And what they have done has saved many lives in all the years its been in effect because many people are just too sick to get up, there’s nobody there to help them.”
He also doubts any senior will attempt to pick up mail from a community mailbox in heavy winter weather.
“Let me tell you, seniors who are in a position to walk, are walking. But there are a great number of seniors who can’t walk. In inclement weather, especially when there are icy conditions, no senior is going to get out there in that situation,” says Kube.
