Lettercarrieers Food Drive

  Release: April 30, 2012                                              CONTACT:    Phil McCorkle, (503) 581-3855
                                                                                                              Vice President, Development
 
Letter carriers to stamp out hunger
Letter carriers in Marion and Polk counties will join counterparts nationwide for the 20th Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday, May 12.

Local letter carriers, who will become both mail and food handlers on this day, are asking residents to join them in this hunger relief effort. Marion and Polk county residents will receive a postcard advising them about the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive.
Residents are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal next to their mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on May 12. Local letter carriers will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail.

“This one-day drive goes a long way to augment emergency food supplies,” said Marion-Polk Food Share President Ron Hays. “We appreciate this generous gesture by mail carriers and our neighbors throughout Marion and Polk counties to help others in our community.”
Since the food stays in the community where it’s collected, this effort helps keep MPFS transportation and delivery costs down, an important factor with rising gas prices.
Last year, the letter carriers drive generated 107,228 pounds of food for the Marion-Polk Food Share network. AWARE Food Bank in Woodburn saw 12,914 pounds; Dallas Emergency Food Inc., 8,630 pounds; Ella Curran Food Bank in Independence, 4,705 pounds; Marion-Polk Food Share, 77,747 pounds; Silverton Area Community Aid, 1,282 pounds; and, Stayton, 1,950 pounds.