It was the first day of school last September in Honeoye Falls, NY, when Letter Carrier Kim Neder Carey came upon a 7-year-old boy sobbing outside his apartment.
When Carey asked the child if she could help him, at first he declined, saying he wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers.
But it soon dawned on him: “I kind of know you. You are the mail lady and you deliver our mail every day.”
The boy explained that no one was at home and he couldn’t locate a key. Carey took him to see the apartment complex manager, who contacted the boy’s father.
The man soon retrieved his son, explaining that the boy was supposed to go to an after-school program but had inadvertently boarded a school bus headed home instead.
The child’s mother later praised Carey in a social media post.
“Both parents were relieved and grateful to find their son safe,” said local Officer in Charge Rebecca Kemp.
Carey was previously recognized through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program in 2015.