Community service
Letter carriers, start your Food Drive engines!
From the January 2016 Postal Record by Community and Membership Outreach Coordinator Pam Donato:
Our Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger”® Food Drive has officially kicked off, as a letter from President Rolando has been sent to every NALC branch president in the country, encouraging them to register for the largest one-day food drive in the world. Enclosed with that letter is the important food drive registration form, the kick-starter for all of our work in this 24th year of the drive.
The president’s letter will be delivered in a hard-to-miss, orange-tinted NALC envelope, prominently marked with the “Stamp Out Hunger” logo alongside the NALC’s return address. This stand-out tint will match the color of the registration form, which I hope will make them both attention-grabbing. Branch presidents are asked to complete the registration form immediately, in part to let NALC Headquarters know how many postcards will be needed for all of the residential deliveries in your branch, as well as to name your branch food drive coordinator.
The reminder postcards will be made available to branches, at no cost, as long as they register by March 1. Branch food drive coordinators and others who work on the food drive should help remind their branch presidents to complete the registration form and make sure it gets mailed to: NALC, Food Drive Registration, 100 Indiana Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20001-2144. Note: No faxes or e-mailed registrations will be accepted.
When the food drive registration form is received at NALC HQ, all of its information is recorded. The branch president-appointed food drive coordinator will then be mailed the appropriate materials. This includes the coordinators’ manual; a form for ordering posters, lawn signs, banners, hats, pins and T-shirts; a special food drive DVD; and sample copies of the new Family Circus cartoon drawn for this year’s drive. This treasure trove of information will also be available at nalc.org/food.
We also have some fantastic news about this year’s food drive. We have a new national premier partner: the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). This is incredibly good news for many reasons. Not only is UFCW large (with 1.3 million members), but it is strong, active, respected and present in all sorts of food-related places. UFCW represents workers in retail and grocery stores, some of which likely are right near you. It also represents folks in the food-processing and meat-packing industries (think Kraft, Smithfield and Hormel).
UFCW’s partnership gives us a tremendously dedicated union ally, and it will help NALC provide reminder postcards, communications support and invaluable connections to potential local sponsors for bags, billboards, media and volunteers. You can learn more about UFCW at ufcw.org; look for a big introduction to UFCW in a future issue of The Postal Record and at nalc.org/food.
There are so many things that bring us hope, inspiring us to double down on the Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive. We have postcards, a new union partner and a renewed commitment to bring help to those in need. Please join this phase of food drive work with your planning and your creative skills. And help make sure your branch gets registered, too. Materials are sent only when we receive your registration. (Remember: If you register by March 1, you’ll get the postcards you need at no cost.)