Postal Service to Salute Girl Scouts in 2012

Celebrate Scouting Forever Stamp Previewed on Social Media

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Postal Service will salute the Girl Scouts in 2012 by commemorating the 100th anniversary of an organization credited with helping girls build character and leadership skills. The Celebrate Scouting Forever Stamp can be seen on social media and will be issued next year as part of the centennial celebration.

Using social media to reach broader, more diverse audiences is an initiative that began this month to engage more interest in stamp collecting. Select stamps from the 2012 commemorative program will be previewed one at a time throughout the summer.

"Celebrate Scouting, the 'sister' stamp to the 2010 Scouting stamp, pays tribute to scouting organizations for the opportunities and pleasures they have provided millions of youths worldwide," said Stephen Kearney, manager, Stamp Services.

The stamp features the silhouette of a girl with binoculars looking into the distance. A scene within the silhouette features a girl in mid-stride with a walking stick and backpack on a summer trek. The environment is composed of large redwoods, a lake and a distant forested mountainside with small ferns in the foreground. The sky has a dramatic blue gradation as it appears in early morning or late evening.

The stamp art was created by Craig Frazier of Mill Valley, CA, under the guidance of art director Derry Noyes of Washington, D.C.

Customers may preview the stamps on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service's online site for the back story on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

Next year's stamps previewed thus far using social media include the Cherry Blossoms Centennial, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Love Ribbons, John H. Johnson, Bicycling, Celebrating Lunar New Year:  Year of the Tiger and the Holiday Celebration Santa and Sleigh stamps.

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

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service