NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS AND FEEDING SOUTH FLORIDA COME TOGETHER TO PARTICIPATE IN STAMP OUT HUNGER IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
Nation’s Largest One-Day Food Drive on May 12 Gives Postal Service Customers
the Opportunity to Fight Hunger in South Florida
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – (April 3, 2012) – On Saturday, May 12, Feeding South Florida™ (formerly Daily Bread Food Bank) will join letter carriers and Palm Beach County residents to fight hunger in South Florida with the 20th annual Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s largest one-day food drive. To participate in Stamp Out Hunger, postal service customers in Palm Beach County will simply place a bag of non-perishable food by their mailboxes, which letter carriers will pick up during mail delivery.
Stamp Out Hunger is conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in cooperation with the U.S. Postal Service. Letter carriersin more than 10,000 communities across America will pick up donated food items when they service their postal routes on May 12. In 2011, Stamp Out Hunger collected 70.2 million pounds of food donations nationwide, marking the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected by letter carriers.
In 2011, letter carriers collected and donated approximately 188,000 pounds of food for Feeding South Florida.Caring citizens can help letter carriers and Feeding South Florida top thisnumber in 2012.
Suggested donations include:
? Canned meats such as tuna, salmon, chicken, turkey and ham
? Canned chunky soups and stews
? Canned beans, fruits and vegetables
? New, unopened plastic containers of peanut butter and jelly
? Dry goods such as cereal, rice and coffee
After they are collected, the items will be delivered to Feeding South Florida’s satellite facility at the Palm Beach Post, where they will be sorted and distributed to food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens in PalmBeach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties . This food will provide nourishment for families, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, and the homeless population, some of whom represent the newly unemployed.
Residents can also help on the day of the event by volunteering to sort food collected by the letter carriers. Volunteers are needed for afternoon and evening shifts, and must be at least 16 years of age. To volunteer, contact Leroy Green, Feeding South Florida’s volunteer coordinator, at (954) 518-1863 or lgreen@feedingsouthflorida.org.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 49 million Americans currently suffer from hunger. Over 930,000 of them reside in South Florida . Feeding South Florida serves nearly 600 not-for-profit agencies infour counties, and agency feedback shows that local demand for food services is up 39 percent due to the current economic climate. The state of the economy, as well as recent events such as one of Feeding South Florida’s refrigerated trucks and another truck’s refrigeration system being stolen, add to the need for increased donations.
Stamp Out Hunger also sustains area soup kitchens and food pantries during decreasing summer donations. Many not-for-profits experience bare shelves during the summer, a crucial time due to the lack of school meal programs for the over 340,000 children who are food insecure inSouth Florida.
“Stamp Out Hunger provides Palm Beach County residents with a very simple way to join the fight against hunger,” said Anthea Pennant, director of external affairs of Feeding South Florida. “Along with the NALC and local residents, we hope to top last year’s food donations to meet the increasing needs of those who are hungry in South Florida .”
“We’re excited to join forces with Feeding South Florida and local residents to help fight hunger,” said Starr Hunter, food drive coordinator of NALC Branch 1690, West Palm Beach . “The NALC is dedicated to making it easy for postal service customers to help feed the many people inSouth Florida who experience hunger.”
This year, Nick Cannon, multi-talented entertainer and member of the Feeding America Entertainment Council, is the national spokesperson for the Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Campbell Soup Company and its partners are producing post cards and shopping bags that will be delivered to more than 90 million homes across the country as a reminder to participate in the drive. In addition, Campbell will again support this year’s food collection effort by donating 1 million pounds of food to Feeding America.
For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, visit www.helpstampouthunger.com orwww.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.
ABOUT FEEDING SOUTH FLORIDA
Feeding South Florida’s™ (formerly Daily Bread Food Bank) mission is to feed hungry people in South Florida in order to improve their lives. Feeding South Florida , a not-for-profit organization, does this by distributing food and groceries to its network of not-for-profit organizations, educating the public and engaging the community to fight hunger and poverty. Through a local network of nearly 600 other not-for-profit organizations, Feeding South Florida strives to serve children, the elderly, the mentally and physically challenged, veterans and the working poor with compassion and integrity. Feeding South Florida is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. In 2011, over 30 million pounds of food were distributed within the community by Feeding South Florida. Feeding South Florida’s headquarters is located at 2501 SW 32 Terrace, Pembroke Park , FL , 33023 . For more information, please call (954) 518-1818 or visit www.feedingsouthflorida.org.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS (NALC)
The National Association of Letter Carriers is the union of city delivery letter carriers working for the United States Postal Service founded in 1889. Today, the NALC maintains its tradition as a vibrant union of over 300,000 members in all 50 states and other U.S. jurisdictions. For more information, visit http://nalc.org/commun/foodrive/index.html.