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"Fill a Bag. Help Feed Families." That's what the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has been doing since 1983.
The 31st drive will be held Saturday. It is annually our country's largest single-day food drive. According to that organization, past drives have resulted in 1.9 billion pounds of food being collected which has helped feed millions of Americans. Items are distributed to local food banks, pantries, shelters and churches. The drive is held in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Island and Guam.
Participants simply leave their donation of non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before the delivery of their mail. The collection is held the second Saturday each May. You likely received recently a notice reminder card in your mailbow
A pilot drive was held in October 1991. It proved to be successful and those involved worked to make it a nationwide effort. Food banks and pantries suggested late spring would work best since most of their donations comes over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods -- leaving food shelves barren by spring. Also, since summer vacation is near for students, school breakfast and lunch programs are often not available.
So in May 1993 a revamped drive was created. The results were amazing: over 11 million pounds of food collected. You may have contributed. If so, please keep doing so. If not, how about starting this Saturday?
According to figures provided, about one in six Americans are uncertain where their next meal is coming from. Sixteen million children feel the gnawing of hunger on their overall health and ability to perform in the classroom. Nearly 5 million 60-plus seniors are food insecure. Many are on fixed incomes and sometimes even ashamed to ask for assistance.
Those of you out there who have been kind enough to participate in the past know how it works. Just fill a bag with non-perishable food items and leave it by your mailbox on Saturday. It will be picked up by your letter carrier when delivering your mail. You will feel good for helping others and it really doesn't take much effort to help those in need fill their bellies.
Remember to avoid items packaged in glass, frozen food, homemade or canned food and, especially, items beyond the "past due" date. If you wouldn't eat it, why would you expect someone else to eat expired food? Food that is opened or damaged is discarded.
Food items accepted would include canned foods such as tuna and fruit. Also beans, oatmeal, whole grains and peanut butter. Just use common sense when filling your bag.
Joining the National Association of Letter Carriers in this commendable endeavor are the U.S. Postal Service, the AFL-CIO, Kellanova, Valpak, CVS Health, United Way Worldwide, Vericast and local food pantries. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is the premier partner.
This really is a joint effort to help the less fortunate. We agree with those involved when the say: "Fill a Bag. Help Feed Families." Remember that donations remain in our communities. A team of 200,000 letter carriers are ready to do their part to "Stamp out Hunger." We hope you will help out, too.
People who have questions about the drive in their area should ask their letter carrier, contact their local post office, or go to https://www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive, facebook.com/StampOutHunger or X@stampout hunger.