Post Office ‘Stamps Out Hunger’ by the Ton

If you happened to walk out to get your mail Saturday, you may have noticed bins for food — and may have donated a few items yourself. Saturday was the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive, now in its 20th year, considered the largest one-day food drive in the world..

It’s put on by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Locally, mail carriers collect the food left out by the mailboxes and in Central Oregon, NeighborImpact, a non-profit and 21 Cares for Kids partner, is the recipient of all the food.

The food then goes to NeighborImpact’s warehouse and distributes the food to more than 40 partner agencies.

“People are hurting for food, and the food banks that distribute the food, they really make a difference in making sure people get nutritious meals.” said Mary Marson, housing stabilization manager at NeighborImpact.

Girls from the Meadowlark Manor, a non-profit residential treatment center in Bend, were volunteering their time to put the food into bins.

Each bin holds about 35 pounds worth of food. And by the end of the day, thousands upon thousands of food were collected.

If you missed your letter carriers visit Saturday, you can drop off your food donations at any post office by next Wednesday.