The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is preparing for their annual food drive, Saturday, May 14th.
The Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive, the country’s largest one-day food drive, provides residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need. Customers simply leave their donation of non-perishable food items, next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on Saturday, May 14. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes.
The traditional food drive is returning this year after a two-year hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event comes at a critical time, according to Camille Wrinkle, CEO of Harvest Regional Food Bank, which is sponsoring the event along with the NALC. “With the rising cost of food, more people are struggling to put food on their table, especially families with children who may not have access to school provided meals over the summer.” Food donations will benefit Randy Sams’ Outreach Shelter, Mission Texarkana, Salvation Army, Domestic Violence Prevention, and Harvest Regional Food Bank’s area pantries.
In the 30 years since it began, the food drive has collected about 1.82 billion pounds of food for struggling residents, nationally. According to NALC Stamp Out Hunger Coordinator, Sallie Moore, the food drive relies on its local and rural letter carriers to carry out the event.
“We couldn’t do this without all the letter carriers who spend extra time that day to collecting food, in addition to delivering and collecting. We do it because we know it helps local families who are in need.
