On Saturday May 12, letter carriers will be doing more than just dropping off the mail; they’ll also be collecting food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Hosted by the National Association of Letter Carriers, Stamp Out Hunger takes place around the country and is the largest single-day food drive.
You can take part by collecting nonperishable food items and leaving them in a bag near the mailbox early on May 12. A letter carrier or volunteer will pick up the donation and ensure it gets to Oregon Food Bank. Last year, 1 million pounds of food was collected in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. This year’s goal is 1.2 million pounds. All donated food stays in the community where it was collected.
“Six days a week, our letter carriers are out in the community, traveling door to door. They see the subtle changes in income and know which house is struggling to put food on the table,” Oregon Food Bank CEO Susannah Morgan said. “We are proud to work together again this year to nourish and care for every neighbor.”
A list of most wanted foods is available at oregonfoodbank.org/mostwanted. Donations not picked up by letter carriers can be dropped off at any post office by Wednesday, May 16. Financial donations can be made online at give.oregonfoodbank.org/NALC.
The Stamp Out Hunger food drive was created in 1993 by the National Association of Letter Carriers to encourage communities to come together in an effort to stock the shelves of food banks nationwide. Along with the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, the National Association of Letter Carriers has collected more than one billion pounds of food nationally since the drive’s inception.
The food drive is made possible by your local letter carriers, the U.S. Postal Service, UFCW Local 555, AWS Elemental Technologies along with many volunteers and community organizations.
