(L-r.) Carol Mancl, Holy Cross Associate and Sister Rita Pearce returning from collecting cancelled stamps from Merrill area businesses.

This holiday season when you receive those greeting cards in the mail, and before you toss those envelopes, remember you can make a difference by saving the cancelled stamps. The Holy Cross Sisters in Merrill, WI, have been sending all kinds of cancelled stamps, even the most ordinary ones, to their mission in India.

This program provides St. Rita's Knitting School, Bettiah, India, with stamps that in turn help employ and train women to become more self-sufficient through the sale of their work in India and elsewhere. The women carefully remove the excess paper from the stamps, sort and bundle them to be sent to collectors.

In Merrill, Sister Rita Pearce and Carol Mancl collect the stamps from Merrill Manufacturing, Lincoln Windows, Taylor Insulation and Merrill Distributing throughout the year. Once the stamps are collected they are taken to Bell Tower Residence. A group of residents meet each Wednesday to spend some time clipping the stamps from the envelopes. An average shipment weighs about 19 pounds when mailed to India.

Individuals and businesses are encouraged to save the stamps for this project. They can be dropped off or sent to Bell Tower Residence in Merrill, WI. Donations to help pay for the cost of shipping the stamps to India are also appreciated. If you have additional questions, you can contact Carol Mancl at (715) 539-1471 or mariancom@ holycrosssisters.org.

(L-r.) Nicole from Lincoln Windows in Merrill, WI, and Sister Rita Pearce