Boca Raton postal workers get hero awards for helping wandering girl, 3, and an elderly man

One of them might have saved the life of a preschooler who had wandered into the street, and a second helped a confused senior.

For their humanity and good work, letter carriers Maria Cordova and Morland Garcia will be presented with the Postmaster General Hero Award in a ceremony Thursday in Boca Raton.

The Postmaster General Hero Award is one of the most prestigious honors for postal employees, and is given to those who perform a heroic act above and beyond the call of duty, said Debra Fetterly, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service.

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Cordova rescued a 3-year-old girl who had wandered into traffic on a busy street without even her shoes on. Fetterly said Cordova parked on the side of the street and went over to the little girl to protect her from traffic, while she called 911 and waited until police arrived. Police were able to locate the girl’s family and return her home safely.

Garcia came to the aid of an elderly person who became confused and lost waiting for a relative to pick him up from a doctor’s appointment. He was on his route when he found the man whose daughter had dropped him off at the Lynn Cancer Institute.

The daughter usually stays with him for these monthly appointments, but her mother needed her help for her own medical needs at the same time, Fetterly said.

The man was supposed to call his daughter when finished with his appointment but was confused and started to look for the family car in the parking lot.

“Morland saw him, took his phone, and noticed that the daughter was trying to reach him,” Fetterly said. “So Morland called the daughter and stayed with the father until she could get there.”

Both employees live in Boca Raton. Cordova has worked for the postal service for eight years and Garcia has been an employee for four, Fetterly said.

Both encounters, which happened in the Boca Raton area last year, are being recognized now. Cordova came to the rescue in March 2022, and Morland sprang into action in September.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash

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