KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Lane sends many checks through the United States Postal Service, but in 2023, Lane noticed more and more of his recipients were not receiving their mail.
While Lane does his work from an office in Grandview, Missouri, he works for the Florida-based nonprofit A Warriors Mission and the American Childrens Cancer Benevolence Fund. The groups pay utility, water, car, rent and other bills by sending checks directly to the biller on behalf of families with a child battling cancer.
“These families are in serious need of help,” Lane said. “They’re all suffering with pediatric oncology. They all have a little kid who has cancer going through all these God-awful treatments. They’re just overwhelmed, and you can’t blame them.”
Lane started paying more money to send checks through certified mail or overnight mail so he could track the status of each letter.
Tracking numbers Lane provided to KSHB 41 News showed a check to cover a $1,100 rent payment for a family in Illinois never arrived after he sent it on Jan. 19.
Another letter with money for rent, a car payment and a utility bill for a family in Louisiana was still “in transit” after being sent on Jan. 9.
And a check Lane sent from Grandview to Idaho on Nov. 27, 2023, went to Brooklyn, New York, and never left a USPS facility there.
“I don’t know how that happens,” Lane said.
KSHB 41 News did not get any direct answers from the postal service. However, an audit the Office of the Inspector General conducted in 2023 showed issues with staffing, absenteeism and issues reporting mail delays in the Kansas City area.
A USPS spokesman said proposed resolutions to address issues from the 2023 audit are now up and running in the Kansas City region.
Fixes include increases in reviews to ensure accountability and compliance with rules, analyzing employee attendance to find and address common trends and continuing recruitment efforts.
US Sen. Roger Marshall (R) sent a letter to the postmaster general earlier this year with questions about mail service in Johnson County, Kansas. US Rep. Mark Alford (R) of Missouri said there’s a need to take a closer look at mail delays in Washington, D.C.
“I’m hoping that in Congress, in the coming weeks, we can have some attention to that; possibly a committee hearing to find out what we can do to get workers in place so that people can get the mail,” Alford said.
Lane is optimistic all the attention from Congress will lead to systemic changes so he can count on the mail to deliver his checks.
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