SANTA CLARA — A Santa Clara mail carrier recently received a thank you letter from the U.S. postmaster general in Washington, D.C. thanking him for his “heroic” act of offering his coat to a boy in need this winter.
Brandon Pectol was finishing up his delivery route on Feb. 14 when he looked across the street and saw a boy in his early teens sitting under an awning at the Frei’s Fruit Market on Santa Clara Drive.
Seeing that the boy had no jacket and had been riding his bike in the rain in the cold temperatures, Pectol decided to head over and check on him.
“When I approached him, when he turned around and looked at me, his lips were purple, his hands were purple and I’m like, ‘I can’t leave you like this,'” Pectol said.
Pectol asked the shivering boy if he was OK and if he needed anything. The teen told him that he didn’t have much farther to go and had made a bad choice in not wearing a jacket to school that day. But Pectol didn’t feel right just letting him go, so he gave his Carhartt coat to the boy to wear on his ride home.
Pectol told the boy that he could return the coat to the post office if he had the chance and if not, that’s OK, too.
“I told my wife that if he doesn’t return my jacket, you know what, he probably needed one,” Pectol said.
The jacket was returned to the post office within a few days, and the next time that Pectol wore it, he discovered a thank you note that the boy had left in the pocket, reading:
“Hey, Mr. Mailman! I just wanted to say thank you for helping me when I was in need. You were the only person to stop and see if I was ok. Plus, you were kind enough to offer me your jacket. For all you knew, you would never see it again. A little bit of kindness can go a long way. Again, thank you for helping me out. Sincerely, the cold kid in need of a jacket.”
Pectol was touched by the note and shared it with his boss, Kim Johnson, the Santa Clara postmaster.
Johnson was so inspired by the story that she submitted it to the postal newsletter that is sent to U.S. Postal Service employees nationwide.
“It was heartwarming and inspiring, and we thought it was a cool story,” Johnson said.
The story was published in the newsletter, and shortly after, Pectol was sent a thank you letter from Postmaster General Megan Brennan, who thanked him for his service to the community and for his “heroic act” of helping a boy in need.
“I want to commend your selfless display of civic duty. You deserve the highest level of admiration for coming to the aid of a boy who needed assistance in inclement weather. I am proud of the way you handled this situation. Thank you for the many services you provide to your community,” the letter read.
The letter also said that his story would be featured on a monthly “heroes’ wall” display at Postal Service headquarters for employees and visitors to read.
“It’s just funny to me because I was just being kind,” Pectol said. “To be recognized just by doing something so simple that people should do every day.”
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