Mail Carrier Yoast Honored For Outstanding Customer Care

AVALON — What better reason to “show some love” and “thank your mail carrier” then to celebrate two national days that fall in February: National Thank a Mail Carrier Day Feb. 4 and Valentine’s Day Feb. 14.
The Avalon Post Office Community planned this special employee recognition for Feb. 22, under the guise of sharing an employee luncheon by celebrating National Chili Day. 
Together, with the help of U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd), Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi, Avalon Administrative Assistant Sue Keen, and resident Eileen Shoemaker, Avalon Post Office united to recognize one of its own, mail carrier John Yoast.
It was about a week before Christmas when Shoemaker stopped in the Avalon Post Office to mail holiday greeting cards. Postmaster Melissa Lomax greeted her, and during the transaction, Shoemaker made it a point to express her gratitude to and for Yoast. 
Shoemaker praised Yoast for his continued valor in going above and beyond in his duties when delivering mail. 
Lomax stated, “John definitely has a superior work ethic, all the while, exemplifying what it means to be truly customer service oriented.”
 Shoemaker recalled her immobility last summer due to a broken leg.  “John made it a point to hand deliver my mail to me every day while making sure I was on the mend,” she said. 
Shoemaker continued, “I was unable to bear any weight on my broken leg, which made it difficult to get around to doing simple and everyday activities, such as driving, walking, and retrieving my mail from my mailbox.” 
Her rehabilitation didn’t just include physical therapy. “John’s daily visit was something that I truly looked forward to every day,” continued Shoemaker.  She makes it a point to meet Yoast at her mailbox just to say thank you again for his going above and beyond in making sure that she was on the mend each day he delivered her mail.
For Yoast, that sort of personalized service and care, as “all in a day’s work of a mail carrier.”  He will be marking his 35th anniversary as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Aug. 20, 2018.
Yoast’s wife of 38 years, Debbie Yoast, described her husband as a “family man.”   She continued to shed more light on John’s humanity, “this was not the first time he had made it a point to hand-deliver the mail to his customers, due to them being elderly, sick, or immobile.  On one occasion an elderly customer fell while they were home alone, and the customer knew exactly what time John would be delivering their mail.  As soon as his customer heard John rustling their mailbox, they called out for John to help and he immediately went to their side and called 911.”
“With almost 35 years of delivering the mail to the residents and businesses in Avalon, John has earned himself an enormous network of customers who rely on his consistent mail service and daily acts of kindness,” Lomax stated.