Stamping Out Hunger 50 tons at a time in central Indiana

By GREG GORMONG
For The Reporter

Saturday, May 10 marks the 33rd anniversary of one of America’s great days of giving: the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.

Letter carriers walk through the community every day, often coming face to face with a sad reality for too many: hunger.

So, each year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food donations from our customers. Here in Indiana, these donations go directly to over 50 different local food pantries to provide food to people who need our help.

Central Indiana food pantries that NALC Branch #888 provides for include:

• Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank
• Open Doors Food Pantry (Westfield)
• Mama’s Cupboard (Sheridan)
• Delaware Township Trustees (Fishers)
• Zionsville Presbyterian Church
• Fortville Area Resource Mission
• McCordsville United Methodist Church Food Pantry
• Lebanon Nazarene Church

From this one day of collection, Branch #888 has averaged over 90,000 pounds of food delivered to these pantries.

This year our goal is over 100,000 pounds of food collected. In order to do this, we have reached out to our cities and towns as well as local businesses to help promote this event through donations and social media awareness.

Over the course of its 30-year history, the drive has collected well over 1.82 billion pounds of food, thanks to a postal service universal delivery network that spans the entire nation from Alaska to Florida and Maine to Hawaii, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The need for food donations is great. Currently, more than 35 million Americans are unsure where their next meal is coming from. More than 12 million are children who feel hunger’s impact on their overall health and ability to perform in school. Nearly 5.2 million seniors over age 60 are food insecure, with many who live on fixed incomes often too embarrassed to ask for help.

Our food drive’s timing is crucial. Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of their donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.

We would like to thank all of our City Carriers, Rural Carriers, volunteers, and the community’s donations that make the largest one-day food drive in the country a success. If you cannot participate the day of, you can support your local food pantry online. Go to nalc.org/food, select your state, select a food bank in your area and make a contribution that way.

Participating in this year’s Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is simple. Just leave a non-perishable food donation in a bag by your mailbox Saturday, May 10 and your letter carrier will do the rest. With your help, letter carriers and the U.S. Postal Service will make the 33^rd year in America’s great day of giving its best one yet.