(STILLWATER, OKLA.) – Local letter carriers are hosting the 31st annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Saturday, May 13. The event, organized, by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), is the country’s largest single-day food drive.
All food items collected in Stillwater will be donated to The Salvation Army and Our Daily Bread. To participate, residents are encouraged to leave a bag of non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before mail delivery on Saturday, May 13.
“My goal is to get about 20,000 pounds of food,” Brenden Swan, letter carrier and food drive organizer, said. “We’ve gotten close before. I feel like we’re fine tuning it and getting a little bit better each year”
The letter carriers will start their process the week of the event, dropping off bags for residents to collect donations in. After collecting all donations that Saturday, they will help weigh and mark it all before placing it in storage.
Suggested non-perishable items to donate include canned goods (meats, fruits or vegetables), pasta, rice, soups, peanut butter, granola bars, cereal, nuts, beans, olive oil and dried fruit. Meanwhile, residents should check expiration dates and avoid donating food in glass containers.
If residents have a P.O. Box or miss their letter carrier, there will be bins in the lobby at the post office, 809 S Lewis St; Homeland, 421 N Main St; and Postal Pack and Ship Plus, 601 S Washington St.
Perkins and Cushing letter carriers are also participating in this years’ food drive to benefit their local food pantries.
According to the Regional Food Bank, one in five families in Payne County are food insecure and Oklahoma is the fifth hungriest state in the nation. The NALC says that 45 million Americans, including 15 million children, are food insecure.
The United Way of Payne County helps promote the food drive each year. For more information, contact the United Way at 405-377-2161, learn more at www.unitedwaypaynecounty.org or stop by the office at 109 E. Ninth Ave.
