Nationwide food drive set for Saturday
By: Vanessa S. Holt
This Saturday, many letter carriers will deliver the usual bills, letters and Mother’s Day cards, but they also will pick up bags of canned goods for area food pantries that are desperately needed at this time of year.
The National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive will take place Saturday. Donations are being sought to restock food pantries with supplies for the summer months now that food collected during the busy Thanksgiving and winter holiday season is almost gone.
Earl Loretangeli, co-chairman of the food drive for NALC Bordentown Branch 1913, said proceeds from the drive at the Bordentown post office on Walnut Street will go to St. Mary’s Community Food Pantry in Bordentown City. In Roebling, donations will go to the Holy Assumption Food Bank.
The annual event is the largest one-day food drive in the country, he said.
According to the NALC, the drive results in the delivery of more than a half billion pounds of donation to food banks and pantries.
Most areas served by letter carriers will be able to participate in the food drive and will receive a postcard in the mail as a reminder. Posters about the event will be displayed in participating post offices.
This is the 10th year for the event, which is co-sponsored by the United Way of America (UWA) and the AFL-CIO and supported by the Campbell Soup Co., which prints the 101 million postcards that circulate to areas served by a participating chapter of the NALC and donated a million pounds of canned food last year.
In addition, this year the event is supported by America’s Second Harvest, a network of food banks across the country.
Over 62.7 million pounds of food were collected nationwide last year, according to the UWA. In the Bordentown area, about 6,000 pounds were collected last year, said Mr. Loretangeli.
Donations that can’t be carried by the letter carrier will be picked up by truck later in the day, so residents don’t have to worry about leaving more than their local mailman can handle, said local food drive organizers.
Residents interested in participating should leave non-perishable food items for letter carriers to pick up by their mailbox. Canned and packaged items without glass containers are preferred. Donations can be left by your mailbox Saturday or brought to participating post offices in the morning.

