Kewanee, along with more than 10,000 cities and towns across America, will join in the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive.
The annual food drive takes place every second Saturday in May when postal carriers collect non-perishable food donations left by mailboxes and on porches. With the help of postal employees and other volunteers, the food is delivered to community food banks, pantries and shelters. Nearly 1,500 NALC branches in all 50 states are involved.
Sandy Hill, board member and long-time volunteer for the Kewanee Food Pantry, said that postcards and white bags will be placed in resident’s mailboxes sometime within the next couple of days. On Saturday, May 10, residents are asked to fill the white bag with donations and place it near their mailbox for pickup.
The national drive has delivered more than 1.82 billion pounds of food the past 30 years, and Hill said the local pantry relies on the donations to help feed local families.
Needed this year are cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, canned vegetables, soup, ketchup and mustard. While the pantry currently is well stocked with peanut butter, any nonperishable food item will gladly be accepted.
The United States Postal Service, NALC, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, AFL-CIO, United Way, Vericast, Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, CVS Health, Kellogg’s and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union are all supporting this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
