The U.S. Postal Service is in trouble. It was already . Then COVID-19 happened.

The pandemic has people sending less mail, and that means reduced revenue for the USPS. But Ronnie Stutts, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, said there鈥檚 more to the Postal Service鈥檚 bottom line.

鈥淲e never were put in to make money,鈥� Stutts said. 鈥淲e were to give service to the people.鈥�

Stutts pointed out that private companies, like FedEx and UPS, don鈥檛 go to every household in rural areas. Plus, he said the Postal Service does more than just deliver packages.

鈥淩ural letter carriers have noticed that people鈥檚 mail has started stacking up in their boxes and other things happening,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we have what we call heroes 鈥� we go in and find somebody whose fallen, the elderly have become ill, and we鈥檙e just kind of like a neighborhood watch.鈥�

For the Postal Service to continue serving these communities, Stutts said, it desperately needs coronavirus stimulus money. As The Washington Post has , that鈥檚 something President Trump opposes.

If that鈥檚 the case, Stutts said one of the nation鈥檚 longest-running institutions could be on its last legs.

This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .

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