National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 466 and the National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association, in collaboration with the United States Postal Service, United Way of Greater Lafayette, and Food Finders Food Bank, supported by Subaru of Indiana Automotive, will once again participate in the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This year marks the 32nd anniversary of this food drive nationally and the 28th year locally.
Food donations will go directly to Food Finders Food Bank for distribution to its partner agencies. On Saturday, all you have to do is leave a bag or bags of non-perishable food by your mailbox before your letter carrier’s normal pickup time.
Over 44 million Americans are unsure where their next meal comes from. This includes 13 million children and over 5 million seniors over age 60—many of whom live on fixed incomes. In Tippecanoe County, 11.3% of the population, over 20,000 individuals, do not know where their next meal is coming from, including 1 in 9 children.
Letter carriers see these struggles in the communities they serve and believe that it is important to do what they can to help. The timing is important, with food banks, pantries, and shelters running low on donations from the winter holidays and, with summer approaching, when most school meal programs are suspended.
Each year, letter carriers across the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-perishable food items to benefit local food pantries. Since launching in 1991, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has grown into the nation’s largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States.
On May 11, as they deliver mail, the nation’s letter carriers will collect the donations that residents have left near their mailboxes. People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice, or cereal, next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery on Saturday.
People who have questions about the drive in their area should ask their letter carrier, contact their local post office, or go to nalc.org/food, facebook.com/StampOutHunger, or twitter.com/StampOutHunger.