In-plant Aids County Emergency Face Mask Mailing

Manager John D.L. Johnson holds up the contents of the COVID-19 mailing going out to Palm Beach County residents.

Wearing a face mask to stop the spread of COVID-19 is essential for all Americans. In Florida, which recorded its highest daily increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations recently, the county of Palm Beach has decided to encourage mask wearing by mailing out masks to each residential address. It has enlisted its in-plant to ensure the success of this endeavor.

The Graphics Division of Palm Beach County is printing and folding 675,000 safety flyers explaining the importance of wearing masks and social distancing, and pointing residents to a downloadable app to help fight the coronavirus. The flyers are being printed on the shop’s Presstek 52DI press, operated by Talmedge Hayes. 

The flyer, along with four face masks -- two cloth washable masks and two disposable  surgical masks – are being mailed to all 658,995 active residential addresses in the county using the USPS Every Door Direct mail program.

“We are managing the EDDM paperwork and uploading the postage statements to our mailing permit account at the USPS,” notes Manager John D.L. Johnson. “The total postage will be around $125,000.”

Palm Beach Mayor Dave Kerner said in a press conference that the county had $35 million in CARES Act funding set aside specifically for PPE. The project cost about $4 million, he said.

“We want to make sure that every member of this community, no matter where you live, has access to the personal protective equipment that is needed to keep yourself safe and members of the public and community at large safe,” Kerner said at another news conference.

On July 22, employees dropped off the first four Zip Codes of the 52 in the county. These packages were sent to the area around Lake Okeechobee, which has one of the state’s higher percentages of cases based on population. The next areas, Johnson says, will be Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.

The county is currently under a State of Emergency as a result of COVID-19 and issued a mandatory facial covering order effective June 25. Facial coverings must be worn in business establishments, public places, county and municipal governmental facilities and while riding public transportation. The entire mailing is expected to occur by late August.