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On Saturday, May 10, letter carriers across the United States could be counted on to display concern, compassion and commitment to their postal customers—and to the communities in which they serve—by participating in the Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive, the nation’s largest one-day food collection effort. NALC branches deliver these collections to local food banks, helping to feed the hungry in those communities.
“It is gratifying to see so many letter carriers and other volunteers contribute their time and energy to make such an impact on their local communities year after year,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “We know that the recipients appreciate it.”
About 1 in 5 Americans, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans, are unsure where their next meal will come from. The May food drive helps to relieve shortages of food that local pantries experience in spring after winter holiday donations have been depleted. And when summer arrives, most school meal programs are not available, so the need for food grows.
Since NALC’s first national food drive in 1993, active and retired letter carriers, with the help of volunteers, have collected a total of 1.94 billion pounds of food leading up to this year’s drive. While the total for this year won’t be announced until the July edition of The Postal Record, anecdotal reports pointed to another great year.
“Everybody needs a little help every now and then,” Addie Harford, Gainesville, FL Branch 1025 president, told her local ABC TV affiliate. “We give back to our food banks because we are out there every day, and we see how hard it is, and we just want to contribute back to our community.”
“It’s a great event that they do for us every year,” Devin Scott, treasurer of the Billings, MT Family Service Board, said. “We’re very appreciative they put this on for us. We get great results, and we have an amazing community that does this for us.” During his interview by local TV station Q2, Scott pointed out that the food and money donations add up: “We raise thousands of pounds of food every year. ... The cash donations give us the ability to purchase fresh food, fresh produce and everything else. It’s so meaningful to what we’re able to provide everybody.”
Officials from St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, AZ, told the local ABC TV affiliate that they were especially appreciative of the food drive results this year because they expect to lose out on more than a million pounds of food this summer because of recent government cuts.
“As letter carriers, we’re very proud of the work we do,” Sacramento, CA Branch 133 Secretary Jeff Bishop told his local NBC TV affiliate. “We’re very honored to be able to give back to the communities that we live in, the communities that we work in.” Bishop added that he looks forward to the drive each year and knows the difference each donation can make. “No matter where you are in the country, the feeling is all the same,” he said. “You know that that you are making an absolute impact in someone else’s life.”
“It’s designed to help feed families across the country, from community to community,” Winston-Salem, NC Branch 461 President Wayne Green told his local NBC TV affiliate.
The annual food drive wouldn’t be possible without the support of our national partners: the U.S. Postal Service, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, RR Donnelley, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valpak, Kellanova and CVS Health. These partners help through such actions as paying for the specially marked postcards, donating thousands of pounds of food and thousands of dollars to food pantries, donating bags that letter carriers distribute to customers, gathering volunteers, or getting out the message about the food drive.
Branches were asked to report their food drive totals to Headquarters by June 6. The total pounds of food collected, and top branch collections, will be announced in the July issue of The Postal Record.