Several post offices around North Central Florida are in serious financial straits and may have to close their mailboxes. But one small community says they need their post office more than bigger cities.
"My earliest memory is of walking over and getting mail out of the old post office," says Thomas Lefevere, whose mother used to be a post master.
Nearly everyone in the small town of Graham has some memory of the Post Office, which has been a community fixture for over 100 years. But it's a bittersweet anniversary for the town.
"Celebrating 110 years of the Graham Post Office at the same month when the Postal Service wants to shut it down," muses Carol Mosely, a passionate resident of Graham. "Anyways, but we're here to celebrate because we hope that we can celebrate 120 years here."
Mosely has been hoping that if the Post Office shows more revenue, the Postal Service won't shut it down. She and the other residents have been working together, mailing each other post cards just to give the Post Office more cash flow.
The Post Office at Graham is more than a place to get news via your mailbox, it's also a place to get news via your neighbors, relatives and anyone living in the area. And that's why Mosely says the Postal Service is out of touch with the residents of rural Graham:
"Many people in this neighborhood don't really use email and have access, which is one of the things the Post Office says, that everybody's ordering online and this is not that kind of a community. If you live in a city and you've got wi-fi and all that, sure. But not here."
Residents are also saying they want to keep their zip code. Without that, they're afraid Graham will literally be wiped off the map.