To the Editor:

Please join me in honoring the invaluable contributions of our nation’s public servants. As a retired federal employee after 32 years of service, and as the Public Relations Officer for the South Dakota Federation of National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) I write to express my thanks to those who have served in various capacities in public service. 

South Dakota has 22,141 total active and retired Federal and Postal Employees. Of that number 11,667 are retired, 8,513 are currently in the workforce, along with 1,961 U. S. Postal Service Employees. Areas of work include at the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Postal Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Other agencies with large number of Federal Employees include those focused on Agriculture, Defense, Indian Health Service, National Park Service, Social Security Administration, and Department of the Interior.

Every day, public servants carry out critical work that allows society to function. We rely on public servants for our daily safety through emergency services and preventing crime and terrorism; to ensure we build and maintain the physical infrastructure allowing us to move from place to place, communicate across long distances, power our homes or drink clean water; to educate our children; to administer critical social programs like Social Security and Medicare; and much more.

Too often their work goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. Yet public servants work every day to provide a stable foundation for all of us to enjoy our lives and freedom.

We should thank them more often – at least yearly.

That is why, since 1985, the first full week of May has been designated Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW). I hope you will join me in expressing your appreciation to those who serve for what they do for our communities and our country.

Karen Jensen