BEDFORD PARK, IL — On Saturday, May 13, the National Association of Letter Carriers, United States Postal Service and other partners are asking the community to Stamp Out Hunger. This is the 25th anniversary of the food drive, which has grown into a national effort that provides assistance to the millions of Americans struggling to help put food on the table.

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held on the second Saturday in May, has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive. In 2016, generous Americans donated 80.1 million pounds of food, feeding millions of people. This was the 13th consecutive year of at least 70 million pounds collected by letter carriers, bringing the grand total to 1.5 billion pounds of food collected, since the Food Drive began in 1993.

It’s easy to make a donation: simply leave a bag of nonperishable food items by the mailbox to help your neighbors in need. The top requested non-perishable food items are: cereal, pasta, pasta sauce or spaghetti sauce, rice, canned fruits and vegetables, canned meals (such as soups, chili and pasta), 100% juice, peanut butter, macaroni & cheese, canned protein (tuna, chicken and turkey), beans (canned or dry). You also can donate healthy, low-sodium, low-sugar items such as beans, oatmeal and other whole grains, and canola or olive oil. On Saturday, May 13.  Letter carriers will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to local food banks.

The need for food assistance exists in every community in America.  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 50 million Americans are food insecure, meaning they live at risk of hunger. Perhaps most alarming is the fact that nearly 16 million children in America are struggling with hunger. Additionally, close to 5 million seniors face choices between paying rent, utilities, and having nutritious food.

This year’s partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Valpak, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, the AARP Foundation and Valassis.

Be sure to keep in touch with the food drive’s official social media accounts — on Facebook, “like” facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and on Twitter, follow @StampOutHunger. For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, visit www.feedingamerica.org and
www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive.  

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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