Letter carriers seek donations for food drive

Nonperishable food donations left by mailboxes and inside post offices on May 14 will go to the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual effort to feed the hungry.

By: Scott Morgan
   On Saturday, the largest single-day food drive in the country will happen for a 13th time, when letter carriers in 10,000 U.S. cities and towns collect for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual effort to feed the hungry.
   On May 14, letter carriers will collect nonperishable food donations left by mailboxes and inside post offices and deliver them to families in need of a little help, according to the NALC. Locally, carriers from the Bordentown, Florence, Roebling and Jobstown post offices will participate in the drive, which is sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, Campbell Soup Co., the United Way, America’s Second Harvest and the AFL-CIO Community Services network.
   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.
   According to Ron Lacy, a Bordentown letter carrier who is running the city branch’s drive for the third time, food can be left next to residents’ mailboxes, in post office boxes, or can be taken to the post office on Walnut Street. All food collected will go to St. Mary’s Community Food Pantry in Bordentown City.
   In Florence and Roebling, donations can be dropped off at either the Broad Street or Main Street branch. According to Roebling Postmaster James Caruso, collected food will be distributed to various area pantries.
   Donations also can be dropped at the Jobstown Post Office in Springfield. Food from this collection will be delivered to Hedding Methodist Church for its missions, according to Debbie Regi of the Jobstown branch.
   Donations can be boxed, canned or nonperishable food. 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.
   The annual event is the largest one-day food drive in the country, according to the NALC. Over the past 12 years, the drive has netted over 623 billion pounds of donations.
   Nearly 71 million pounds of food were collected nationwide last year, according to the NALC.