What:
Local kick off event to launch17th Annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Who:
Charlie Heege – President NALC - Branch 36 New York
Dianne Jones – USPS Customer Relations Coordinator Bronx NY
Brian Stern – City Harvest (Bronx)
Maria De Carmen Arroyo – NYC Councilwoman
Rosanna Dilonez - Hopeline Executive Director
Community Leaders & Elected Officials invited

When:
10:00 a.m. Friday, May 1, 2009

Where:
The Hope Line
421 East 155th Street
Bronx, New York 10455

Background:
The NALC Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is a tradition entering its 17th year of success. In 2008, the drive collected 73,113,915 pounds of food for the needy from postal customers. That brought the total for the first 16 years to 909 million pounds.

New Yorkers are asked to drop-off non-perishable food items in special Stamp Out Hunger collection bins in postal lobbies in Manhattan and the Bronx from May 2 through May 9. Non-perishable donations like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal, and rice are suggested. All donations to the Stamp Out Hunger drive are given to local food banks whose shelves are usually running low at this time of year after the fall and winter holiday donations are depleted.

In most suburban communities in the United States, postal carriers have vehicles and can pick-up the food donations. Accordingly, residents In participating suburban communities across the country can leave non-perishable food items at their mailboxes for the Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday, May 9. Due to the population density, Manhattan and the Bronx residents are asked to deposit their food donations at the special Stamp Out Hunger food bins in the lobby of their local Post Office.

For more Stamp Out Hunger food drive information, go online to: www.nalc.org, www.helpstampouthunger.com, or contact your local Post Office.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.