Event generates thousands of pounds of canned goods to be distributed locally
Signs dot yards through out the city and county reminding residents to leave canned goods and non-perishable food items in or around their mailbox on Saturday to be collected by carriers. (EXAMINER PHOTO | NATE SMITH)
Bills and assorted junk mail won’t be all that’s exchanged Saturday between residents and mail carriers from the United States Postal Service.
The 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive run by the National Association of Letter Carriers is Saturday, inviting local residents to donate canned food or other non-perishable items to be distributed to area food pantries.
According to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champaign and Logan counties, it is the largest single-day food drive in the country. Some 10,000 cities across all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Guam will leave canned goods to be collected by the mail carriers and passed on to local food banks.
Despite nationwide participation, what’s donated locally stays within Logan County, said Bellefontaine Postmaster Steve Dunton.
“We’re talking about neighbors helping neighbors,” Dunton said. “100 percent of all the items that are donated within Bellefontaine and Logan County stays here.”
To participate in the food drive, residents should place non-perishable food products in a bag and leave them where the letter carrier delivers mail to the residence.
“Canned food is a big need, always, but people shouldn’t forget about personal health care items, either,” the Bellefontaine Postmaster said. “Carriers will collect those hygiene and personal care items, as well.”
While the donation is primarily driven by postal carriers, rural mail route drivers typically will accept donations along their routes that day or residents can deliver items to a post office during regular business hours, Dunton said.
Lutheran Community Services is the local hub where all items are gathered and sorted, said Kim Collum, LCS executive director.
Between 2012 and 2016 average local giving has been 4,516 items per year with an average weight of 5,242 pounds, according to information distributed by Lutheran Community Services.
Last year, 4,277 items were donated weighing 4,978 pounds.
“We count on this food drive to help us feed those in need,” Collum said. “This food drive always occurs the second Saturday in May, and at this time of the year many food pantries are searching for ways to bring food into their facility.
“The postal food drive is one of the major food drives that support the pantries in Logan County.”
The timing of the food drive is not a coincidence, Dunton said.
“This is something that people can do that will benefit their own community,” he said. “Around the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, people are in a giving mood, but the summer months can sometimes be overlooked, and often this is the time when the food banks most need our contributions.”
In addition to LCS, Seventh-day Adventist and First Church of God members this year will help pick up, sort, weigh and divide the items for later distribution.