Donate Canned Goods on May 14 to the 'Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive'

Saturday, May 14, marks the 24th anniversary of the National Association of Letter Carriers "Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive." Letter carriers walk throughout the community every day, often coming face to face with a sad reality for too many, hunger.
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So, each year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food donations from our customers. These donations go directly to local food pantries to provide for families in our own community in need of help.

"Letter carriers touch every residential and business address in this country at least six days a week," NALC President Fredric Rolando said, "and our continued effort in the fight against hunger -- often in our own neighborhoods -- has made us all too familiar with the staggering numbers of people in need."

The availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain for 1 in 6 Americans, many of whom are in households with at least one person working.

"So our goal is to help restock community food banks, pantries and shelters for needy families throughout the summer," Rolando said, "and to build upon the millions of pounds of non-perishable food collected since 1992 from millions of generous postal customers."

Last year, on this one day over 71 million pounds of food was collected nationally. Over the course of its 23-year history, the drive has collected well over one billion pounds of food, thanks to the Postal Service's universal network that spans the entire nation, including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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The need is great. Currently 49 million Americans (1 in 6) are unsure where their next meal is coming from. Nearly 16 million children feel the impact of hunger on their overall health and ability to perform in school and 5 million seniors over age 60 have to decide between daily meals or paying for rent or needed medications.
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The timing of this annual event is intentional and crucial. Food banks and pantries receive the bulk of their donations around the fall and winter holidays. By springtime many pantries are depleted, entering the summer with low supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need. "Our hard work and sacrifice will not go unnoticed, I assure you," Rolando said.

The food drive's national partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO and Valassis.

Award-winning actor Edward James Olmos is this year's national spokesperson, the star of food drive -- promoting public service announcements (PSAs) for TV and radio in English and Spanish.

New for this year's drive is a pilot project through special food drive partner Amp Your Good, which is accepting throughout the month of May online food donations for select hunger organizations in San Francisco, in New York City, and in Greenwich, CT. Amp Your Good's online "Crowd-Feeding" platform is designed to make it easy for postal customers to donate fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy food, to complement the non-perishables donated on Food Drive Day. Visit stampyourgood.com to learn more.

And let your hard work be known! Be sure to capture the action on Saturday, May 14, by sharing your best photos on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. You can help us find them by using the hashtag #StampOutHunger. Who knows? Your pics could get posted on any of NALC's social media accounts on those platforms. Check us out -- simply search for the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts named "StampOutHunger," then share, post and "like" what's there.

Participating in this year's Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is simple. Just leave a non-perishable food donation in a bag by your mailbox on Saturday, May 14th and your letter carrier will do the rest. Please join in America's great day of giving and help us in our fight to end hunger.
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For more information, visit http://stampyourgood.com