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PUBLISHER Ginnie Roeglin
EDITOR David W. Fuller 425-313-8510 dfuller@costco.com
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MAGAZINES BOOKS
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FRONTend
from the publisher’s desk
Ginnie Roeglin
THIS MONTH, we are pleased to feature several Costco
members who also happen to be famous athletes in our
cover story. Instead of indulging in the kind of bad
behavior that is often in the news these days, these athletes have used their fame and fortune to do tremendously
good things to benefit children, promote education and
fight diseases. You can read their inspiring stories starting
on page 30.
Other members are also tremendously generous.
Since the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan on
March 11, Costco members, suppliers and employees have
donated more than $5 million to the Red Cross relief effort worldwide!
This month marks the beginning of another campaign that is important to Costco.
Every May, we sell paper balloons in our warehouses to benefit 170 children’s hospitals
throughout the country. Costco also adds a donation, and together we give millions of
dollars to fund medical care for sick children who otherwise cannot afford treatment.
You can read more about this campaign on page 97.
We honor our mothers this month on May 8. If your mom lives far away, you might
want to send her a beautiful bouquet or a tower of fruits from Costco.com. You’ll also
find a selection of jewelry and other gifts on our website and in our warehouses.
Our congratulations go out to graduates this month. You may wish to top off your
celebration with a special cake from our bakery, decorated in your school’s colors. See the
Buying Smart article on page 92 for the inside scoop on our scrumptious cakes.
Summer is nearly here, and you’ll want to check out our special Travel and Recreation section for tips, trips and great outdoor products, starting on page 69.
We end this month by remembering the sacrifices of our military men and women
on Memorial Day. Our sincere thanks to our vets and our moms this month from all of
us at Costco! C
Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
President, E-Commerce and
Publishing, and Publisher of
The Costco Connection.
from the editor’s desk
David W. Fuller
IN 1753, 22 YEARS before he became the first postmaster
general of the United Colonies, Benjamin Franklin served
as one of two concurrent joint postmasters general of
North America for the British Crown Post. One of his
great challenges in that position was to discourage people
from “sending their letters out of the mails.” The practice
of using private delivery was causing a revenue problem.
Fast-forward 258 years, and the 73rd person to hold
the position of U.S. postmaster general seems to be facing
the very same challenge, albeit from a digital angle even
I had the pleasure and honor of sitting down with Postmaster General Patrick R.
Donahoe a few weeks ago in his office at L’Enfant Square in Washington, D.C. (See story,
page 25.) The choices he, the U.S. Postal Service and its government regulators (including
Congress) will soon be making will have an impact on every single Costco member. Will
delivery be cut to five days? How many additional post offices will be closed? Can physical
mail service survive alongside email and the burgeoning social media options?
I am not the first to find Donahoe a frank and remarkably cheerful executive, someone
who still favors his hometown, Pittsburgh, over what he sees as a sometimes less than hospitable political environment in the nation’s capital, where he served as deputy postmaster
general for 20 years before officially stepping into the top job this past January. I found
Donahoe’s optimism and enthusiasm for the future of the Postal Service contagious, especially considering that just a few days earlier he had been put through the wringer by several
members of a House subcommittee charged with considering some of these thorny issues.
“I appreciate being entrusted with such an immense responsibility,” Donahoe said on
Capitol Hill. “I am so proud to be a part of an organization that is vitally important to
our country.” C
David W. Fuller is Assistant
Vice President, Publishing, and
Editor of The Costco Connection.
MAY 2011 The Costco Connection 7
