The following is a press release from the National Association of Letter Carriers regarding their upcoming food drive, Stamp Out Hunger:
Stamp Out Hunger, the NALC’s 25th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive, is on Saturday, May 13, and with that date drawing ever closer, food drive coordinators in hundreds of NALC branches across America are finalizing their preparations for the nation’s largest one-day food collection event designed to help replenish local food banks in the communities we serve.
“Too many people in this country are going hungry,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “We know this to be true because we see it as we deliver to every address in America at least six days a week.”
Sadly, statistics back this up. Nearly 49 million Americans—1 in 6—are unsure where their next meal is coming from. This includes 13 million children as well as about 5 million seniors over age 60—many of whom live on fixed incomes and often are too embarrassed to ask for help. Since 1993, when the national food drive began, letter carriers in every part of the country have worked with family members, friends, other postal co-workers and allies to use the second Saturday in May as a day to give something back to the communities that know and trust us.
Last year, the food drive collected a record 80 million pounds of nonperishable food, raising the total amount of donations picked up over the quarter-century history of the drive to more than 1.5 billion pounds. Larry Kuhn, of the Marquette Post Office reported that a record 17,000 pounds of food were collected in Marquette last year. The workers were pleased to see the large amounts of participation by area residents. The Negaunee/Ishpeming area collected 10,000 pounds of food.
By the time our national food drive rolls around each year, the shelves of food pantries are often nearly empty, turning our hard work on Food Drive Day into a much-needed replenishment with summer fast approaching. As the mail carriers bring the food back to the Post Offices, it is divided up and distributed to St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Armies, Harbor House, and Janzen House.
Participating in this year’s Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger food drive is simple. Just leave non-perishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox on Saturday, May 13th and your letter carrier will do the rest. Please join America’s great day of giving and help the NALC postal carriers in their fight against hunger.