Charity lost in the mail
Debra Stark, the owner of an organic foods store in Concord, started with a simple idea.
Her plan was to hold a food fair at which local farmers would be invited to sell their produce. This would be combined with a benefit for Gaining Ground, a nonprofit organization that grows food to feed needy families.
The event, to be held in mid-June, would be advertised in her store's monthly newsletter and via postcards sent to several thousand customers on the store's mailing list.
It was a good idea, at least until the US Postal Service got involved. None of the postcards were delivered prior to the event. The newsletter got lost in the mail, too.
``As far as we know, they got lost in the sorting center in Shrewsbury," Stark said yesterday. The postcards did reach their destinations, but days after the benefit, too late to do any good.
Stark had hoped to raise $1,000 for Gaining Ground, which didn't happen. ``That's not a tremendous amount, but for a small store and a small event, it is."
She realized the event wasn't going to live up to expectations a few days in advance, when it was clear that her customers weren't getting the mailing. By then, it was far too late to reschedule. ``The night before, I e-mailed all the vendors and told them I was ready to kill myself and pull out my hair. To give them credit, they all decided to go forward anyway."
Stark almost immediately began calling and sending letters to the Postal Service, trying to figure out what had happened. It still isn't clear why her mail wasn't delivered on time.
Dealing with the bureaucracy hasn't brought any satisfaction. Stark received letters of apology, but that isn't what she's looking for.
I asked her why she wouldn't let it go.
``I'd like them to be accountable, like the rest of us," she said. If she made such a mistake in her business, she said, she would do everything in her power to make things right and keep her customers.
``For the Post Office, that's not the case," she said. ``They can't lose us as a customer. We have no other alternative. You're helpless. That's what makes me so angry."
She's very specific about what she wants. She thinks the Postal Service should reimburse her for her printing and postage costs and add $500 for each of the 17 businesses that took part in the Food Fair. She thinks the postal service should also donate $1,000 to Gaining Ground. It all works out to $12,214.59. I think the Postal Service should cut the check.
So far the service has politely but firmly declined, saying it reimburses customers only when it fails to deliver service. Apparently, they don't view delivering late as outright failure. Stark, of course, disagrees.
Yesterday, I called Peter Pagano of the USPS, who had signed the most recent letter Stark had received. He said there was little he could say about the mixup, because of privacy issues. He referred me instead to the service's rules and regulations, posted online, which address the circumstances in which a customer can get a refund. He seemed to be explaining why Stark's check wouldn't be in the mail.
Stark describes her business, Debra's Natural Gourmet, as a small business with close ties to the community around it. That partly explains why the collapse of an event intended to support nearby vendors and help a local charity feels so important.
Then again, most of us have known the frustration of dealing with a bureaucracy that doesn't seem to think it has to explain its failures or do anything to address them. She says she's looking for some accountability, and it is impossible to blame her. She hasn't succeeded yet, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth the effort.
``We paid for a service that was not rendered," she said. ``It just frosts my boots, it really does. . . . How do you make them accountable?"
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com. 