Welcome to Wednesday.

• USPS could permanently close Allston's only post office.
• The Greg Hill Foundation has quietly built a heavy-hitting charity that hands victims immediate cash relief.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 65 and a low of 55.

🎸 Sounds like: "Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers, who plays TD Garden today.

Today's newsletter is 1,050 words — a 4-minute read.

Boston officials are pressing the U.S. Postal Service to abandon plans that would leave Allston permanently without a post office and close a central Dorchester branch.

Why it matters: Around 87,000 Allston-Brighton residents would share one branch in neighboring Brighton, according to Council President Liz Breadon.

• The city of Newton, which is about the same size, has 10.

State of play: USPS closed Allston's branch in 2019 over structural problems.

• It told Mayor Michelle Wu in June 2025 that it would reopen.
• Residents received letters in September saying USPS may close it permanently.
• Fields Corner's Adams Street office closes Oct. 26 when its lease expires.
• USPS calls the Dorchester shutdown temporary but gave no reopening timeline.

Between the lines: USPS told lawmakers in July it must weigh multimillion-dollar spending carefully given its finances.

• A regional spokesperson said no final Allston decision has been made.

Wu says the city is prepared to pursue legal action to reopen the locations.

• Rep. Ayanna Pressley called the closures part of a "coordinated campaign" to privatize USPS.
• Pressley, Sen. Ed Markey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Stephen Lynch called the closures "unacceptable" in a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner.

Put a stamp on it before it's closed

A local radio charity has quietly morphed into a heavy-hitting nonprofit by leveraging a generous audience and filling in the gaps where traditional crowdfunding falls short.

Why it matters: The Greg Hill Foundation, which taps into the popular WEEI broadcaster's sports talk audience, provides beneficiaries with immediate, fee-free cash relief.

• Hill's group has become a case study in modern nonprofit management and community engagement built with a small, nimble staff.

What they're saying: "We want to be able to give that money to the beneficiary's family immediately," Hill told Axios.

• The fast action allows families to focus on grieving or supporting injured loved ones rather than worrying about a missing paycheck.

State of play: GHF's goal is rapid financial relief in the chaotic days following local tragedies.

• Hill has the unique ability to drum up support from his audience while tragedies are still in the news.
• Money can be disbursed in hours or days, not weeks and months.
• That's typically much faster than traditional philanthropy.

By the numbers: Over the last 16 years, the foundation has raised over $34 million for over 10,000 beneficiaries.

• Average donations hover around $20, driven heavily by Hill's loyal morning radio audience.
• 100% of public donations go directly to the victims and their families.
• Corporate partners and annual fundraising events cover the administrative fees so public donations go exclusively to recipients.

During the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, GHF wrote checks directly to survivors in hospitals within three to five days, Hill told Axios.

• This allowed families to keep their cell phones on and pay rent while recovering.
• Recently, the team mobilized to raise well over $100,000 for the family of a State Trooper who was killed in a head-on collision.
• They launched their fundraising page the moment Trooper Kevin Trainor's name was released to the public.

Between the lines: Hill sees the foundation's agility as its defining edge in a crowded charitable landscape.

• Before GoFundMe existed, Hill recognized his radio listeners wanted to help neighbors instantly, but local credit union funds often took weeks to establish.

More on the foundation's new leader

🍽️ Uber agreed to buy Boston-based catering marketplace ezCater in an all-cash deal valued at $2.3 billion. (Boston Business Journal)

• ezCater has about 750 employees, including 180 in Massachusetts.
• Uber bought Boston's Drizly in a deal announced in 2021 and shut it down in 2024.

🪶 A monument designed by and for the Wampanoag people is planned for Scarboro Hill in Franklin Park. (WBUR)

• City officials said it would be Boston's first permanent monument dedicated to an Indigenous community.

🍸 The new Chester Tavern in Dorchester took down an Instagram video that offered patrons a drink and the chance to snoop on an ex who had blocked them, using a bartender's phone. (Universal Hub)

• The video had been up for a couple of days before it was removed Monday.

🏘️ The developers of Dorchester Bay City are seeking a roughly $400 million federal loan to start a first phase of more than 700 housing units on Columbia Point.

🏨 The Zoning Board of Appeal unanimously approved a 42-room extended-stay hotel at 269 East Cottage St. in Dorchester.

• The Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association opposed the project, citing its size, traffic on the narrow street and shadows on neighboring houses.

🤖 Cambridge AI firm Blitzy signed a 52,000-square-foot lease at One Kendall Square, which a news release called the city's largest office lease this year.

• Anthropic signed a 24,000-square-foot lease in the same complex earlier in September.

Reese's rules Halloween candy nationally — but the next state over might be craving something else.

Zoom in: Massachusetts is solidly in the Reece's camp.

• But over in Rhode Island and Connecticut, they're big on those Kinder Bueno hazelnut wafer bars.

The big picture: New DoorDash data shows the most uniquely popular Halloween candy by state, based on last October's orders.

• Reese's over-indexes in 17 states, and the peanut butter cups are the top candy nationally for the third year in a row.
• Sweet Smiles, a Dollar General brand that sells an assortment of sweets, stands out in seven Southern states.

Put one piece of this article in your lunchbox every day for the next several months

Science communicator Chloe Kirk takes part in a virtual reality simulation of the inside of a human heart at the opening of AstraZeneca's new research center in Cambridge on Monday.

• 💊 AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot discussed the drugmaker's $50 billion U.S. manufacturing investment and a new research and development site.

Deehan is intrigued by the Midwest's love of taffy.

Steph enjoyed meeting some of our readers at the Axios Social Club after-party last night.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.