JUNK MAIL TALE SENIOR COLLECTS POSTAL POUNDS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

NEWHALL - The Greatest Generation has a soft spot for politeness. It's hard to throw away something that someone took the time to send without a polite response, even if it's ``no, thank you.''

Unfortunately, that response gets them a ticket on the endless merry- go-round of junk mail that grows upon itself. Once on the mailing list, a senior is a company's best friend for life.

Or so many senior citizens' bulging mailboxes seem to prove.

Marilyn O'Hare is a typical senior citizen. The frequently smiling 80- year-old Friendly Valley resident agreed to save her mail for a month to give the Daily News an idea of what kind of solicitations and pleadings are delivered via the U.S. Postal Service. She said that many of her neighbors commented that they get ``way too much junk'' in the mail as well when she told them of her collection.

The 10-pound pile groaned with oversize envelopes marked URGENT and IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUESTED, most of them from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group that, according to its Web site, is devoted to the retirement future of all citizens. The four envelopes received from Dec. 20 to Jan. 20 contained petitions for O'Hare to send to them - along with a contribution for the group to continue its work.

``This is what drives me nuts,'' O'Hare said, waving one of the envelopes. ``It sure gets annoying. They want you to send this petition to them so they can give it to your congressman. You can do that on your own without sending $15. It makes me so upset.''

The senders attract attention by intimating that issues critical to seniors are being threatened - Social Security, health care, retirement benefits. The possibility of being an ``instant winner'' is also something hard to resist by homebound people who may live vicariously through their mail.

Seniors living on fixed incomes are frequently targets of those begging for donations or eager to sell something. O'Hare's mail included requests from the Humane Society, Feed the Children, the American Heart Association, the Alliance for Retired Americans, three requests from the Salvation Army, two from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (one of them marked Express Priority URGENT), the Senior Final Expense Program, the Mayo Foundation Fund for Alzheimer's Disease Research, the Campaign for a Social Security Lockbox, three missives from the Senior Citizens League Notch Victim Register, two from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association to defeat Proposition 56, solicitations from Craftmatic Adjustable Bed (noting six FREE chances to win a free bed), and sales pitches for Omaha Steaks, two scooter companies, the South Beach Diet, Together (a singles dating service) and a letter from the ubiquitous Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

The Better Business Bureau advises that seniors and their family members become better informed about the companies making the solicitations, and if they want to dispose of unwanted mail, invest in a shredder to eliminate the possibility of personal information being obtained by someone going through the trash.

Margie Veis, the administrator of Summerhill Villa, an assisted living facility in Newhall, said that the amount of junk mail residents there receive prompted the company to install a recycling bin in the mail room so unsolicited mail can be tossed immediately.

``Some of our clients don't check their mail daily, so their mail boxes are just crammed full,'' she said. ``Also, some of them don't know how to differentiate between the solicitations and letters from their family. We've had them come to us for help sorting out the ads and requests for donations from their legitimate mail. We tell them they don't have to answer them, but explain that the postman has to deliver them.''

According to the AARP, seniors or their family members can write letters to the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association to ask that their address be removed from mailing lists. Once the request is received, it takes about three months to see a decrease in the mail, as the DMA needs time to check lists of prospective customers and remove the names in question.

Companies that do direct mail sweepstakes offers have recently come under scrutiny at both the state level and in Congress. The wording of some entries often implies the customer has won something that requires a shipping and handling charge that exceeds the value of the prize. All it takes is one response to a mailing to begin the unending cycle of receiving additional mailings that might look different, but are continuing solicitation strategies.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Marilyn O'Hare, 80, shows off her collection of a month's unwanted mail.

(2 -- color) O'Hare, a Friendly Valley resident, sets out to weigh the unwanted ads and other solicitations she received from various organizations from Dec. 20 to Jan. 20.

(3) Like many senior citizens across the country, Marilyn O'Hare is subjected to large amounts of junk mail each month - only some of which she's holding here.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer