Oregon post offices offer way to help stamp out breast cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Oregon post offices are reminding customers they can help fund breast cancer research by purchasing the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, a semi-postal stamp issued to help raise funds for breast cancer research.

More than 1 billion stamps have been sold since its inception in 1998, raising more than $87.8 million for breast cancer research.

“Our customers have turned the simple act of purchasing postage stamps into a meaningful and effective way to participate in the fight against breast cancer,” said Portland District Manager William Schwartz. “The Postal Service has a proud tradition of issuing stamps to help raise awareness of social issues.

“T he Breast Cancer Research semi-postal stamp takes this wonderful tradition a step further by providing funds for a worthy cause. We encourage everyone to purchase and use the Breast Cancer Research semi-postal stamp on their cards and letters.”

Available year-round, the 65-cent self-adhesive stamps are sold in sheets of 20. Each Breast Cancer Research stamp has a postage value equivalent to the First-Class Mail 1-ounce stamped letter price in effect at the time of purchase.

The amount going to Breast Cancer research is determined by the difference between the First-Class rate in effect at the time of purchase (currently 50-cents) and the 65-cent purchase price, minus a nominal amount to offset costs incurred by the Postal Service.

By law, 70 percent of the net amount raised is given to the National Institutes of Health and 30 percent is given to the Medical Research Program at the Department of Defense.

T he Breast Cancer Research Stamp was the first semi-postal stamp in U.S. history. In 1997, Congress authorized it for the specific purpose of raising funds from the American public to assist in finding a cure for breast cancer. In 2015, President Obama signed legislation that extended the sale of the stamp through Dec. 31, 2019.

Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, the stamp features the phrases, “Fund the Fight” and “Find a Cure” and an illustration of a mythical “goddess of the hunt” by Whitney Sherman of Baltimore.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations .