WASHINGTON -- Letter carriers throughout America will be lugging a heavier mailbag than usual on Saturday as they collect non-perishable food donations from postal customers along their routes. The National Association of Letter Carriers union (NALC) said the donations will be delivered to local food banks and pantries to help families in need.
NALC President William H. Young said the 13th annual letter carriers food drive to “Stamo Out Hunger” will be conducted May 14 in over 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the District of Columbia.
The event is the largest one-day food drive in the nation, conducted with the assistance of rural carriers, other postal employees and civilian volunteers. In 2004, carriers collected a record 70.9 million pounds of food in the drive.
“This drive will help stock local food banks and pantries at a critical time of the year when children are especially vulnerable,” Young said. “Many school lunch programs are suspended during the summer months and families have difficulty providing basic nutritional needs.”
Making a donation is easy.
Residents are asked to leave non-perishable food donations in a bag near their mailbox on Saturday before their letter carrier arrives. The letter carriers will do the rest. (In New York City and Chicago, postal customers were asked to take donations to their local post offices). Persons who have any question about their community’s participation in the drive should contact their local post office.
Over 110 million postcards, sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service, have been delivered to postal customers to remind them of the drive. Other supporters of the drive are local United Ways, the AFL-CIO, Valpak, and America’s Second Harvest. For further information go to: www.nalc.org. |
