Please Participate in the Nation's Largest Single-Day Food Drive

The National Association of Letter Carriers, Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque, the Food Depot in Santa Fe and hundreds of food banks around the country would like you to participate in the nation's largest single-day food drive tomorrow (Saturday, May 9).

Since 1992, the second Saturday in May has been set aside for the NALC's Stamp Out Hunger campaign for the massive food-collection effort, which is held in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. "With the extreme weather experienced this winter by much of the country, along with the economic struggles many Americans face, the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive never has been more important," said the NALC.

For the average postal patron, taking part in the food drive involves a couple of simple steps.

• Visit your favorite grocery store, 
• Purchase several non-perishable food items like peanut butter, canned tuna, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned beans, 
• Put them in a bag and leave them by your mailbox on Saturday before your postal carrier arrives. 

I usually spend about $10 or more at the grocery. And instead of leaving them by the mail box, I take the food directly to my neighborhood post office on Lomas near Tramway and deposit the bag (s) in a special bin.

There are many volunteers behind the effort, as Stephanie Miller wrote in the Roadrunner Food Bank's blog in 2013. "From the hardworking Letter Carriers who fit the food collection into their normal hours while on their routes that day, to volunteers who give up part of their Saturday to stand, schlep, sort and sweat, to Food Bank staff who put in an extra day that week, to the US Postal Service who approve delivery of the collection bags and use of their facilities, to sponsors like Campbell’s Soup Company and AARP and the coordination of our national organization Feeding America and, most-importantly, to donors across the country who take the time to put food out that day." 

Roadrunner Food Bank tweeted this photo this week to promote #StampOutHunger

Helping us #StampOutHunger , thanks Highland USPS Team and USPS teams across #ABQ! pic.twitter.com/ILSDqVzcCD

— Roadrunner Food Bank (@RoadrunnerFdBnk) May 8, 2015

And the Food Depot made this appeal for volunteers via Twitter on the same day.

Hey, volunteers — we need you! http://t.co/fDngZ3cgdH #FeedNNM #StampOutHunger

— The Food Depot (@TheFoodDepot) May 7, 2015

The food that is collected stays in local communities. "With the help of the generous community and our local letter carriers, The Food Depot is hoping to collect more than 30,000 pounds of food this year," said the Santa Fe food bank.

So please set aside a few minutes from your day to help #StampOutHunger and supplement the food available to hungry neigbhors in our (your) community.