USPS letter carriers delivered in the fight against hunger
U.S. Postal Service letter carriers collected 72.4 million pounds of food on May 10 from the donations of thousands of communities throughout America for the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. This represents the 11th consecutive year the event has surpassed 70 million pounds and adds to the more than 1 billion pounds of food collected since the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive began in 1993. Donations of canned goods and non-perishable food items will feed countless families in need. Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s largest single-day food drive, was launched in 1993 by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and is supported by the Postal Service. Canned and non-perishable items are collected by 230,000 letter carriers and other postal employees in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.
“The Postal Service was filled with pride when we saw the news coverage of this year’s food drive,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “There were more than 2,000 television and radio reports, more than 1,000 newspaper and online articles and tens of thousands of hits on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless blogs. Everyone who saw this coverage knew that the food drive was helping to put food on the tables of families who are in need.”
“One of the great things about the letter carrier food drive is it reminds our customers how we always go above and beyond the call of duty and it shows what we can achieve when we all work together. I want to thank everyone involved and all of our partners for their contributions in making this years’ food drive a success” Donahoe said.
About 50 million Americans — including 16 million children — lack sufficient food, according to Feeding America, a partner in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive and the nation’s leading domestic hunger relief charity. With most school lunch programs suspended during summer months, millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.
Feeding America’s 200-member food banks serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The nation’s food banks and pantries were able to stock up with food donations from the May 10th food drive.
“The USPS and NALC organizations are amazing partners to help get a huge amount of food into our service area through this super food drive. “We are thrilled that so many food insecure will benefit with such great food,” said Tim Keane, president and chief executive officer, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, Inc., of Muncie, IN.
This year’s effort generated an outpouring of appreciation and gratitude from Feeding America-affiliated food banks across the country, helping illustrate the impact the food drive has had in local communities for more than two decades.
In addition to the Postal Service, NALC and Feeding America, other Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive national partners include: AARP, Campbell Soup Company, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valassis, and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
