"Stamp Out Hunger" with Mail Carrier Food Drive This Saturday

National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

The Cloud County Resource Center and Food Bank is pleased to announce the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is set to return to Cloud County, and nationwide, on Saturday, May 14th.

This drive began as a community action by the National Association of Letter Carriers in 1993 as the nation’s largest all volunteer, one day, food collection effort and is held annually on the second Saturday in May.

At its heart is the push to make a significant donation of food to organizations nationwide who are in a place to serve those in need.

The idea is very simple.  Take a few items and place them in a bag in or around your mailbox on Saturday, May 14th and your local letter carrier will take care of the rest.

This year, black plastic bags with tags were delivered to every house in the Concordia-area to make this process even easier.

And next week, Resource Center volunteers and Post Office employees will coordinate to see that these generous donations make their way to the Cloud County Resource Center and Food Bank.

Once there, items are inventoried, sorted, barcoded, boxed for short storage or shelved for immediate food bank usage.

“This drive is a great help to the food bank,” says Director of the Resource Center Tonya Merrill.  “And it comes just right at the beginning of summer which has always been our busiest season.  We are so grateful for this extra help.”

The drive, which was discontinued for safety reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, is making its return on Saturday.

“Often this drive gathers several thousand items for the Food Bank,” Merrill continues.  “And the last time it was held it generated more than 3000 items.”