‘Unbelievable’: Stacks of unopened mail found inside of Richmond church trash can
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Concern has sparked across Richmond's Church Hill community after stacks of unopened letters and packages in a local church's trash. The trash can full of mail was found by an administrator of the Good Shepherd Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 28. That administrator called the president of the Richmond branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), James Minor, about the matter. "On my lunch break, I came over here to check it out to see what was going on," Minor said. "I open[ed] up the trash cans, saw the mail -- and I saw one of my friend's names that I graduated with who lives around a corner, and she had a bunch of mail in there ... and mail from across the whole neighborhood of Church Hill, which was unbelievable." 8News received a video of what was discovered, shown below. Minor told 8News that pertinent mail such as medicine, W-2 forms and bills were found in the trash. "I've never seen or witness[ed] anything like this in my entire life, since I've been at Church Hill," he said. "You have seniors that depend on medicine. You have folks who are looking for their bills. You have folks who are waiting for other things to come … the mail is the mail." Minor said a USPS inspector general came to the property and retrieved the mail. 8News reached out to the inspector general for details on the matter, but have not yet heard back. "I definitely feel like a lot of that mail is going to impact a lot of the people around here -- and they don't even know necessarily what they're waiting on, let alone where the mail is going to," said Shelva Hawkes, who works at a business situated across the street. The church's pastor, Sylvester Smith spoke to 8News Tuesday evening and called the situation deplorable. "That individual, whoever it was -- if they were not in a position or didn't want to deliver that mail or if it was too much of a task for them, they should have alerted someone in a supervisory situation to know that, so that they could get someone who is responsible to deliver that," Smith said. "There are individuals who are sitting around, I'm sure, waiting on expected mail, waiting on medication, waiting on tax form to get their taxes done -- and when someone so callously throws the mail in the trash, it speaks volumes about the trust we should have an individual who had that kind of position." ‘We love you here’: Richmond school leaders pledge support to immigrant students, families amid ICE raids Minor said he also made a phone call to Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA4), Sen. Tim Kane (D-Va.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). "I would have to say that all three are on it and they're going to escalate it and take it up," he said. "I did have a conversation with folks from their offices today ... because this is a serious matter." Minor told 8News that if this has been done once, it's possible it may have been done before -- as he says some residents are still missing mail. This is a developing story. Stick with 8News for updates.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Concern has sparked across Richmond's Church Hill community after stacks of unopened letters and packages in a local church's trash.
The trash can full of mail was found by an administrator of the Good Shepherd Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
That administrator called the president of the Richmond branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), James Minor, about the matter.
"On my lunch break, I came over here to check it out to see what was going on," Minor said. "I open[ed] up the trash cans, saw the mail -- and I saw one of my friend's names that I graduated with who lives around a corner, and she had a bunch of mail in there ... and mail from across the whole neighborhood of Church Hill, which was unbelievable."
8News received a video of what was discovered, shown below.
Minor told 8News that pertinent mail such as medicine, W-2 forms and bills were found in the trash.
"I've never seen or witness[ed] anything like this in my entire life, since I've been at Church Hill," he said. "You have seniors that depend on medicine. You have folks who are looking for their bills. You have folks who are waiting for other things to come … the mail is the mail."
Minor said a USPS inspector general came to the property and retrieved the mail.
8News reached out to the inspector general for details on the matter, but have not yet heard back.
"I definitely feel like a lot of that mail is going to impact a lot of the people around here -- and they don't even know necessarily what they're waiting on, let alone where the mail is going to," said Shelva Hawkes, who works at a business situated across the street.
The church's pastor, Sylvester Smith spoke to 8News Tuesday evening and called the situation deplorable.
"That individual, whoever it was -- if they were not in a position or didn't want to deliver that mail or if it was too much of a task for them, they should have alerted someone in a supervisory situation to know that, so that they could get someone who is responsible to deliver that," Smith said. "There are individuals who are sitting around, I'm sure, waiting on expected mail, waiting on medication, waiting on tax form to get their taxes done -- and when someone so callously throws the mail in the trash, it speaks volumes about the trust we should have an individual who had that kind of position."
Minor said he also made a phone call to Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA4), Sen. Tim Kane (D-Va.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).
"I would have to say that all three are on it and they're going to escalate it and take it up," he said. "I did have a conversation with folks from their offices today ... because this is a serious matter."
Minor told 8News that if this has been done once, it's possible it may have been done before -- as he says some residents are still missing mail.
This is a developing story. Stick with 8News for updates.
