Record 73.1 Million Pounds Collected In Letter Carriers' National Food Drive
Nation’s Largest Effort to ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Restocks Community Food Banks and Pantries
WASHINGTON, DC --- June 2, 2008 --- Letter carriers throughout America collected a record 73.1 million pounds of food donations in the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) announced today. The food was delivered to local food banks, pantries and shelters to help needy families in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions.
NALC President William H. Young thanked the millions of American families who left food by their mailboxes and the thousands of letter carriers, rural carriers, and other postal employees and volunteers who collected, processed, and delivered the donations to local food banks and pantries.
“It is heartwarming that in these difficult times, when all families are feeling the effects of high food and gasoline prices, that so many Americans put aside their own financial concerns to help others facing hard times,” Young said. "They should be applauded for their generosity toward millions of needy Americans – including many working families, children and the elderly.”
Young said letter carriers are proud to deliver the donations from their postal customers to the respective community food banks and pantries.
Final results showed 73,113,915 pounds of non-perishable food were collected along postal routes on Saturday, May 10 as letter carriers delivered the mail, in the union’s annual “Stamp Out Hunger” drive conducted in over 10,000 cities and towns. The amount was 2.4 million pounds larger than a year ago and surpassed the previous record of 71.3 million pounds collected in 2005. It brought the total for the drive’s 16 years to over 909 million pounds.
West Coast Florida NALC Branch 1477, headquartered in the St. Petersburg area, took top honors among the nearly 1,500 local branches that conducted drives on the second Saturday in May, collecting 1,717,218 pounds of donations. The effort ended a five-year reign by Buffalo/Western New York NALC Branch 3 as the top local branch in the food drive. Buffalo came in second this year.
Young expressed appreciation to the U.S. Postal Service and Campbell Soup Company, who together supplied over 120 million postcards to promote the drive, along with other promotional activities. He also thanked the other major supporters: Cox Target Media-Valpak, the direct mail marketing firm; United Way of America and its local United Ways; the AFL-CIO; America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network; and cartoonist Bil Keane, who yearly provides special “Family Circus” artwork to promote the drive.
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Contact:
Ross Fraser
America's Second Harvest
312.641.6422
Drew Von Bergen
NALC
202.662.2489
