CONYERS — Local letter carriers in Newton and Rockdale counties are getting ready for the 25th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, set for May 13. The annual event sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and its partners, is the nation’s largest one day food collection event, designed to help replenish local food banks in the communities served by the carriers.
“Too many people in this country are going hungry,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “We know this to be true because we see it as we deliver to every address in America at least six days a week.”
Sadly, statistics back this up. Nearly 49 million Americans — 1 in 6— are unsure where their next meal is coming from. This includes 13 million children as well as about 5 million seniors over age 60 — many of whom live on fixed incomes and often are too embarrassed to ask for help.
Since 1993, when the national food drive began, letter carriers in every part of the country have worked with family members, friends, other postal co-workers and allies to use the second Saturday in May as a day to give something back to the communities that know and trust them.
Last year, the food drive collected a record 80 million pounds of nonperishable food, raising the total amount of donations picked up over the quarter-century history of the drive to more than 1.5 billion pounds.
“Letter carriers lead this massive collection effort,” said Rolando, “but we couldn’t make the food drive a reality without the help of our national partners.”
This year’s partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Valpak, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, the AARP Foundation and Valassis.
“These partners provide tangible support that helps to encourage the generous participation of our postal customers,” said Rolando.
“Our extraordinary history of filling local food pantry shelves in communities across the country is made possible by our partnerships with these national organizations in conjunction with the dedication and hard work of letter carriers,” said Rolando.
“The food drive is just one of the many ways letter carriers give back to our communities. It’s almost time for us to shine once again.”
Citizens are asked to put their non-perishable donations in bags beside their mailboxes on May 13, and letter carriers will collect and deliver them to local food banks.
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