On Saturday, May 12, 2012, Letter Carriers (NALC) will be collecting food donations in order to feed the hungry on the Island of Hawai`i.
The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is a nationwide effort that provides food to local food banks and pantries that would otherwise be faced with depleted stocks during the summer months. The Food Basket, Hawaii Island’s Food Bank continues to experience record demand for emergency food assistance.
- Letter carriers will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Big Islanders and deliver them to the Hawaii Island Food Basket, Hawaii Island’s food bank. Last year they collected just over 47,000 pounds of food. This year, the goal is 50,000 pounds of food. That would stock the Food Basket’s shelves for about two weeks…and is needed, according to the Food Basket’s Executive Director, Nani Lee.
- Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993. In 2011, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected.
The Face of Hunger…
- Despite the generosity of millions of Americans who have supported the letter carriers’ food drive in previous years, the need for food assistance has never been greater. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, the number of Americans living in food insecure homes was nearly 49 million in 2011, and one in five of these people was a child (16 million).
- A recent survey conducted by Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, found that nearly half (46 percent) of households served reported having to choose between paying a utility bill or purchasing food.
You Can Help…
- Helping Stamp Out Hunger in the Island of Hawai`i is as easy as checking your mailbox. Just leave a bag of non-perishable food where your letter carrier normally delivers your mail on Saturday, May 12. Your letter carrier will then pick up and deliver the food to a local food bank. Examples of non-perishable items include:
- Canned soup
- Canned meats and fish
- Canned vegetables, fruits and juices
- Boxed goods (such as cereal)
- Pasta and rice
- For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive in the Island of Hawai`i ask your letter carrier or contact your local post office when you stop in to check your P. O. Box.
