Postal food drive planned Saturday

Letter carriers are known for delivering mail despite all kinds of adverse conditions, and on Saturday they will be tackling another tough task: helping to feed the hungry locally during challenging economic times.

This will occur through the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, with May 11 marking the 32nd anniversary of the campaign held on the second Saturday of each May.

Local residents are encouraged to join the effort with others around the country by leaving non-perishable food donations in a bag by their mailboxes.

“And your letter carrier will do the rest,” an announcement for the annual campaign states.

The items collected in this area will be taken directly to the Yokefellow Cooperative Ministry food pantry on North South Street, a longtime agency that distributes supplies to those in need.

Last year’s drive generated 7,375 pounds of food for the pantry, and the need is even greater in 2024, according to its program coordinator, Dixie Ratliff.

“With the price of food, it’s crazy,” Ratliff said Wednesday regarding rampant inflation’s effects on groceries, which has a double-edged effect.

“Our donations are down a little bit now because of the high cost of food,” she explained.

The local version of the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is important because everything collected stays in this community.

“It benefits us a lot,” Ratliff emphasized.

The annual postal food drive produced more donations before the COVID-19 pandemic than what has been realized more recently.

But whatever is collected is “a blessing,” Ratliff said of urging local residents to participate.

Need is widespread

Officials with the national campaign point out that the role of letter carriers in making it a success is noteworthy since they often come face to face with the sad reality of hunger through their daily travels in communities.

The need for food donations is great, they said, offering numbers to substantiate this.

More than 44 million Americans are unsure where their next meal will come from, based on information from Gary A. Orr, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier who is the National Association of Letter Carriers shop steward for Mount Airy.

That number includes 13 million-plus children who experience hunger’s effects on their overall health and ability to perform in school, according to Orr, who coordinates the local food drive.

“Nearly 5.5 million seniors over age 60 are food insecure, with many who live on fixed incomes often too embarrassed to ask for help,” he said in a statement.

“Our food drive’s timing is crucial,” Orr continued.

“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.”

With the public’s help, letter carriers and the U.S. Postal Service have collected more than 1.9 billion pounds of food nationwide during the 31-year history of the drive.