Postal Service Food Drive to Benefit Philabundance

There's a food drive next weekend and you don't even need to leave your house to participate.

On Saturday, May 14,  letter carriers across the Delaware Valley are holding their 19th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Newtown carriers will join post offices across to country in a food drive to help the hungry. 

To participate, simply leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, like canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal, next to your mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on May 14.  Food items should be in non-breakable containers, such as boxes and cans.  The goods picked up in Newtown will benefit Philabundance.

According to Lindsay Bues, public relations coordinator for Philabundance, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive.  Last year in total the Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected a record 77.1 million pounds of food donations, pushing the 18-year total to more than one billion pounds of food.

Supporting the drive this year are Campbell Soup Company, the U.S. Postal Service, National Association of Letter Carriers and Feeding America, Valpak, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, the AFL-CIO, United Way and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage.

NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said the 300,000 member union was “incredibly proud of the partnership with Campbell Soup Company to support the Stamp Out Hunger food drive that has helped so many millions of families over the years.”

“As letter carriers, we see people on our routes six days a week that must rely on the generosity and assistance of others to help provide something as basic as a meal. We’re proud to have established a program that truly provides assistance in every community across the country,” said Rolando.

In addition to producing more than 80 million postcards to be delivered to homes across America to remind everyone to participate in the drive, Campbell will again donate one pound of food (up to one million pounds) to the Feeding America food bank network for every person who joins the Stamp Out Hunger Cause on Facebook.  Donations can be made by visiting www.Facebook.com/StampOutHunger.

“Campbell is committed to the success of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive and we will do all we can to remind Americans to contribute next weekend," said Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer said,

“Hunger continues to be a critical issue for our nation," she added. "At a time when we are experiencing challenging economic conditions, it remains unacceptable that millions of Americans, especially our children, continue to go hungry in our country. That’s why we’re proud to be a part of this drive, which not only demonstrates the generosity of our neighbors, but also benefits community members in need.”

The need for food assistance across America has never been greater, according to food drive organizers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, the number of Americans living in a food insecure home surpassed 50 million in 2009 (the most recent year that such data is available).  Perhaps most alarming is that approximately one-third of those at risk of hunger are children (17.2 million).

For more information about the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, ask a letter carrier, contact a local post office, or visit www.philabundance.org or www.helpstampouthunger.com.