How to help USPS' Santa's Gift Shoppe this holiday
Dear Editor:
The holidays are about looking out for one another— and in Kissimmee, the Postal Service is proud to help. Alongside recent transformation efforts to strengthen day-to-day delivery, we invite neighbors to visit USPS Operation Santa at USPSOperationSanta.com and adopt real letters to Santa from individuals and families.
This year, please consider choosing family letters—a meaningful way to help an entire household at once. You can explore Santa’s Gift Shoppe, our expanded online catalog, to find thoughtful items families have requested and fulfill them easily from the comfort of home.
If you’re mailing gifts to your family and friends, please plan ahead: check recommended ship-by dates at usps.com/holidayshippingdates, confirm addresses using our ZIP Code Lookup tool at usps.com/zipcode lookup, and pick the service that fits your timing— USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express. You can also print labels and schedule free carrier pickup at usps.com.
Thank you, Kissimmee, for supporting your neighbors and trusting the Postal Service this holiday season.
Frank Stallworth
Postmaster, Kissimmee Post Office
Could county incentives fund phantom jobs and overseas “equipment”?
Dear Editor:
A company the county has been in negotiation with for over two years is again making claims that are not found evidenced in reality.
This company recently claimed it has “already sold about 22,000 solar-assisted heat pumps in the U.S.”—an impressive figure on paper. But where, exactly, is that income reflected? Residents and taxpayers deserve to know. Our local elected officials see this as an opportunity to expend county funds to incentivize the bad business decisions displayed in financial statements and in the company’s penny stock values.
What makes this even more concerning is that this is the same company that previously announced plans to build a hydrogen factory—a venture that has now seemingly shifted to “solar-assisted heat pumps.” A change in focus is one thing, but shifting narratives paired with the pursuit of new public incentives raises serious red flags.
This company’s penny-stock status on the open market adds another layer of risk. Despite this, the county continues to negotiate incentives using taxpayer dollars. Those incentives reportedly include $3,000 for each job created and $100,000 in equipment reimbursements.
On the surface, these programs are designed to encourage local economic growth. Yet, I have many questions. A soccer stadium has now been added to sweeten the deal—“European soccer experts” being hired for what’s supposed to be a clean-energy manufacturing operation? Could some of these positions exist only on paper—“ghost employees” used to trigger incentive payouts?
And what about that $100,000 in “equipment reimbursement”? Will these real purchases, or European invoices that might be tied to nonexistent deliveries?
These are not trivial concerns. Before a single public dollar changes hands, the county owes it to taxpayers to verify that the jobs are real, the equipment exists, and the company’s claims are grounded in fact—not fantasy.
After all, public money should power real results—not a smoke screen of fantasy soccer.
Debbie Rambis
Kissimmee
