WASHINGTON -- Letter carriers collected a record 71.3 million pounds of donations in their 13th annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive conducted in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) announced today. The food was delivered to local food banks, pantries and shelters to help needy families.
Final results showed 71,301,210 pounds of non-perishable food were collected along postal routes on May 14, the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger. The total reflected an increase of nearly a half million pounds from the previous record set last year.
Buffalo/Western New York NALC Branch 3, which collected 1,896,038 pounds of donations, was the top NALC local branch in the drive for the third consecutive year.
NALC President William H. Young thanked the millions of American families who left food by their mailboxes and the thousands of letter carriers, rural carriers, and other postal employees and volunteers who collected and processed the donations.
"This generosity will help needy families – many from working households – obtain sufficient food during the summer months when supplies often run short," Young said. "We are proud to serve as the catalyst between the good will of our postal customers and their local community food banks and pantries."
The announcement was made in conjunction with National Hunger Awareness Day activities aimed at encouraging citizen involvement in anti-hunger efforts throughout the year.
Young expressed appreciation to the U.S. Postal Service and Campbell Soup Company, who together supplied 112 million postcards to promote the drive, as well as other major supporters: Valpak, the direct mail marketing firm; America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest network of food banks; United Way of America and its local United Ways; the AFL-CIO, and cartoonist Bil Keane, who yearly provides a special "Family Circus" drawing for the drive.
