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The NALC National Food Drive is the largest one-day food
drive in the nation.
Donations from postal customers are being collected by
over 1,400 local branches of the 300,000-member postal union
in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands and Guam.
NALC President William H. Young emphasized that the donations
will be delivered to community food banks and pantries that
serve the area where the donations are collected - providing
an opportunity for citizens to help people in their own
locale. Assisting in many communities are rural letter carriers
and other postal employees, as well as members of other
unions and civic volunteers.
"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."
"These children are often
from working families who fight a constant battle to stretch
paychecks for food, medicine, clothing and shelter,"
Young added.
Carriers collected 61.7 million pounds of food in last
year's drive, bringing the 11-year total of donations to
well over a half billion pounds that were delivered to local
community food banks and pantries.
Making a donation is easy.
Residents are asked to leave non-perishable food donations
in a bag near their mailbox on Saturday, May 8 before their
letter carrier arrives. It will be taken to the local post
office and onto a local food bank or pantry.
In New York City and Chicago, postal customers are being
asked to take donations to their local post offices throughout
this week. Persons who have any questions about their community's
participation in the drive should ask their letter carrier
or contact their local post office.
Over 109 million postcards, sponsored by the Campbell
Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service, are being mailed
to postal customers to remind them of the drive. The postcards
features a cartoon by "Family Circus" artist Bil
Keane. In addition, a nationwide Public Service Announcement
by reigning Olympic Gold Medalist Sarah Hughes has been
transmitted to television stations, and 40 million envelopes
promoting the drive have been mailed by Valpak.
Co-sponsors of the drive with the letter carriers' union
are the U.S. Postal Service, Campbell Soup, local United
Ways, the AFL-CIO and America's Second Harvest.
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