Bucks County >> Final preparations are underway for the 25th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive to be held on Saturday, May 13.
And America’s letter carriers will be ready for it, NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “Preparation and coordination for Food Drive Day can be challenging,” he said. “Despite the challenges, we look forward to it each year because of the important role we’re playing in the fight against hunger in this country.”
As letter carriers are keenly aware, too many of their customers live in challenging situations, uncertain of where their next meal will come.
“We deliver to every address in America at least six days a week,” Rolando said, “and because we’re such a consistent and familiar presence in neighborhoods, we’re all too familiar with the unfortunate reality of ongoing hunger.”
Over the last 24 national food drives, letter carriers have collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of food, helped by untold thousands of fellow postal employees, retired letter carriers, family members and friends. The food is then distributed to local food pantries within the same communities where it was collected.
Joining NALC this year as national food drive partners are the U.S. Postal Service, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, United Way Worldwide, AFL-CIO, AARP Foundation, Valpak and Valassis.
On May 13, residents are encouraged to put donations of non-perishable, unexpired food next to their mailboxes for their Letter Carriers to pick up when they deliver the mail. The food will then be taken to a central location where it will be sorted and then delivered to local food pantries.
Locally, the Morrisville Letter Carriers are looking for volunteers who are at least 15 years old who can help with food pickup along walking routes in the 19067 zip code. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9:30 a.m. at the YMCA on North Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville.
The letter carriers are also looking for volunteer to help at the YMCA with the unloading, sorting and loading the food. Volunteers need to be at least 18 years old and be able to work from 2 to about 7 p.m. For more information, call Frank Powell at 215-736-1053.
