Carrier’s Food Drive
Jennifer Gilmore, Director of Programs & Agency Relations, said “This year, Second Harvest Food Bank for San Diego was honored to be approached by Labor Participation and asked to oversee the food collection and distribution of seven post offices. Recognizing that it is imperative to get food out to the folks who need it as quickly as possible, America’s Second Harvest opted to partner with hunger relief organizations like the Coalition for the Homeless rather than spend limited resources trucking it back to our warehouse for processing.” Gilmore added, “we know that when we get you food, you get it to those in need. 
It is always a pleasure to be able to support worthy organizations like the San Diego Coalition for the Homeless. Second Harvest’s appreciation for what you do is deep and heartfelt.”
We were privileged to pick up food collected at the Lexington Avenue Post Office, El Cajon, on May 10. Terri Lopez, event coordinator at the post office, said they traditionally collect about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of food at that location. However, she said it’s possible the economic downturn may affect this year’s collection.
The 24-foot truck and driver donated by Casas International Brokerage, Inc.,.were on-site before 1:00 P.M. Lopez and several post office employees pitched in to help unload the mail trucks and load our truck. Volunteers included Pastor Deron Matson and Roy Mattingly from the Church of the Nazarene in Mid-City; Rebecca Cardenas and her family, Sandy Maynes, Bob and Bruce Livengood from the Coalition; Kay Kuttner, Cheryl and Hayley O’Brien, and all the others who worked until the 43rd truck was unloaded at 5:00 p.m. Ms. Lopez and all of us were ecstatic: 11,340 pounds of food were collected!
Our deep appreciation is extended to the postal employees at Lexington Post Office, Second Harvest Food Bank of San Diego and all who donated and helped us to ease hunger.
To learn more about Stamp out hunger please visit ttp://www.helpstampouthunger.com/learnMore.aspx
FLASH
in Letter Carriers’ National Food Drive!
Letter carriers throughout America collected a record 73.1 million pounds of food donations in the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger. The food was delivered to local food banks, pantries and shelters to help needy families in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions.
NALC President William H. Young thanked the millions of American families who left food by their mailboxes and the thousands of letter carriers, rural carriers, and other postal employees and volunteers who collected, processed, and delivered the donations to local food banks and pantries.
“It is heartwarming that in these difficult times, when all families are feeling the effects of high food and gasoline prices, that so many Americans put aside their own financial concerns to help others facing hard times,” Young said. “They should be applauded for their generosity toward millions of needy Americans – including many working families, children and the elderly.” 
Young said letter carriers are proud to deliver the donations from their postal customers to the respective community food banks and pantries.
Final results showed 73,113,915 pounds of non-perishable food were collected along postal routes on Saturday, May 10 as letter carriers delivered the mail, in the union’s annual “Stamp Out Hunger” drive conducted in over 10,000 cities and towns. The amount was 2.4 million pounds larger than a year ago and surpassed the previous record of 71.3 million pounds collected in 2005. It brought the total for the drive’s 16 years to more than 909 million pounds.
West Coast Florida NALC Branch 1477, headquartered in the St. Petersburg area, took top honors among the nearly 1,500 local branches that conducted drives on the second Saturday in May, collecting 1,717,218 pounds of donations. The effort ended a five-year reign by Buffalo/Western New York NALC Branch 3 as the top local branch in the food drive. Buffalo came in second this year.
Young expressed appreciation to the U.S. Postal Service and Campbell Soup Company, who together supplied more than 120 million postcards to promote the drive, along with other promotional activities. He also thanked the other major supporters: Cox Target Media-Valpak, the direct mail marketing firm; United Way of America and its local United Ways; the AFL-CIO; America’s Second Harvest–The Nation’s Food Bank Network; and cartoonist Bill Keane, who yearly provides special “Family Circus” artwork to promote the drive.
The Second Harvest Food Bank for San Diego coordinated the collection and distribution of food at eight post offices. In the spirit of maximizing resources and getting the food to the folks who need it faster, we opted to pair agencies with post offices. Eleven agencies participated and collected 46,957 pounds of food! Check out the photos on the San Diego Coalition for the Homeless’ web site , www.sdhomeless.org.
