Saturday is the day to ‘Stamp Out Hunger’

90,000 pounds of food. That’s the most ever collected by NeighborImpact during the annual Postal Carrier’s Food Drive event, also known as the Stamp-Out Hunger National Food Drive.

This Saturday, May 10 th , mail carriers in more than 10,000 cities across America will help collect food to feed local families. The drive has delivered more than a billion pounds of food over the past 20 years.

“This is the biggest food drive of the year for us,” says Sandy Klein, Food Resource Specialist for NeighborImpact. “It keeps the shelves of our food bank stocked through fall before the holiday food drives.”

In recent years, collections have been closer to 40,000 pounds. While still a significant amount of food, NeighborImpact’s Food Bank barely made it through last fall with enough food, so the staff is hoping everyone in Central Oregon will do their part to help out. To donate, just place a box or can of non-perishable food next to your mailbox before your letter carrier delivers mail this Saturday, May 10th. The carrier will do the rest. The food is sorted and delivered to NeighborImpact’s food bank for distribution throughout Central Oregon.

“We’d absolutely love to collect 90,000 pounds of food again. Central Oregon is a generous community and Saturday’s event is an easy and convenient way to make a donation,” Klein responded.

The NeighborImpact Food Bank Program is the regional affiliate of the Oregon Food Bank and distributes over 2.6 million pounds of food to 40 local agencies in Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties. Over 19,000 individuals are helped at emergency food sites every month during the year.

For more information on the Postal Carrier’s Food Drive, visit the National Association of Letter Carrier’s website at: http://www.nalc.org/commun/foodrive/