19th Annual NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive is Saturday, May 14

19th Annual NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive is Saturday, May 14

Written by Publisher, Wakulla.com Wednesday, 11 May 2011 08:08

Letter-carrier-food-drive-2011-image-300The 19th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive—the nation’s largest one-day drive—provides letter carriers, other postal employees and thousands of volunteers across the nation the opportunity to meld their forces together to conduct the drive in communities across America.

Our goals:  to help restock community food banks, pantries and shelters for needy families throughout the summer, and to build upon the 1 billion pounds of non-perishable food collected since 1992 from millions of generous postal customers. 

The drive is held each year on the second Saturday in May, and so Saturday, May 14, has for months been circled on the calendars of anti-hunger advocates who have watched as food supplies collected during winter holiday drives dwindle day by day.  Demands for food assistance have reached record levels from what seems to be an almost endless line of victims of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

National and local NALC food drive coordinators hope to expand on last year’s record of 77.1 million pounds of donations collected along postal routes, and would like to encourage postal customers to place bags of food by their mailboxes on May 14.

National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric V. Rolando asks us all to make an extra effort to ensure that this year’s drive will be a success.  To hammer home the point, Rolando noted government reports that show that more than 50 million American families—including 17.2 million children—are living in homes lacking sufficient food.

“May 14 is the one day in the year when letter carriers take control of the conversation about hunger in America, making a loud-and-clear case for providing a chance for millions of families, and millions of children, to have a hunger-free summer,” Rolando said. “Our hard work and sacrifice will not go unnoticed, I assure you.”

Postal customers should have received a grocery bag with the "Help Stamp Out Hunger" logo on it in their mailboxes earlier this week.  Please take the time to place a few non-perishable items in the bag and be sure to place it by your mailbox before the carrier arrives on Saturday morning, May 14, 2011.