Support Sonoma County's vulnerable during Postal Service food drive
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its annual food drive on Saturday, May 14. NALC’s food drive helps feed families facing food insecurity.
Hunger affects 1 in 6 residents in Sonoma County, including children and seniors. The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive provides residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need.
Customers simply leave their donation of non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on Saturday, May 14. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes, and then bring them to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.
The need is as great as ever, given the pandemic-caused economic dislocations of the past two years. The traditional food drive is returning this year after a two-year hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, it was replaced by NALC’s donor drive, in which those wishing to help made online donations to their local food bank.
“Letter carriers are a part of every neighborhood in the nation,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said, “and we see the growing need for food assistance in our communities. On Saturday, May 14, NALC invites everyone to participate in the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.”
The timing is important, with the Redwood Empire Food Bank running low on donations from the winter holidays and with summer approaching, when most school meal programs are suspended.
On May 14, as they deliver mail, the letter carriers will collect the donations that residents have left near their mailboxes. People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, rice, pasta, oats, dry beans, or low sugar cereal next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery on Saturday. The food donations stay in the community, going to help local residents.
Several national partners are assisting NALC in the food drive: the U.S. Postal Service, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Vericast, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valpak, the Kellogg Co. and CVS Health.
People who have questions about the drive in their area should ask their letter carrier,contact their local post office, or go to nalc.org/community-service/food-drive, facebook.com/StampOutHunger or twitter.com/StampOutHunger.
About the Redwood Empire Food Bank
The Redwood Empire Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization serving Northern California. Since 1987, the Redwood Empire Food Bank has provided food and nourishment to those facing hunger—serving more than 100,000 children, families and seniors in Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties. With over 300 direct service distributions, and 150 partnerships with other hunger-relief organizations, all residents facing food insecurity have access to more than 450 weekly and monthly distribution sites across the five counties.
Visit refb.org or call 707-523-7900 to learn more.
More about the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
NALC’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive was first held in 1983 to help feed millions of Americans. Today, 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam participate. It is the country’s largest one-day food drive, providing residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need. In the 30 years since it began, the food drive has collected about 1.82 billion pounds of food for struggling residents.
