Largest One-Day food Drive in the World - Letter Carriers Food Drive

Distribution of emergency food remains at record high levels.

Letter carrier Bobbi Harrison collects food while delivering mail during National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive

(Portland, Oregon) - Help stamp out hunger! It's easy. Simply place nonperishable food donations by your mailbox on the morning of Saturday, May 14, for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive.

This is the one day of the year that all Americans have the opportunity - with the help of letter carriers - to easily donate food to help needy families in their community. In Oregon and Clark County, Wash., the food drive benefits the Oregon Food Bank Network.

"This is always my favorite day of the year to deliver mail," says letter carrier Jamie Partridge. "We deliver to every neighborhood in Oregon, so we see the need first hand. That's why we encourage all of our customers to give generously on NALC Food Drive day. It's my proudest day as a letter carrier."

More than 4,000 letter carriers in urban and rural areas throughout Oregon and Clark County, Wash., will join with letter carriers across America to collect donations of nonperishable food from their postal customers during the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive, Saturday, May 14.

Rural carriers have contributed to this drive for many years. This is the second year that National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA) has joined the event as a full national partner.

The goal of the Oregon Food Bank Network is to collect 2 million pounds of food during the letter carriers food. Last year's NALC Food Drive raised more than 1.7 million pounds of food throughout Oregon and southwest Washington.

Distribution of emergency food remains at record high levels. In average month, an estimated 240,000 people eat meals from an emergency food box in Oregon and Clark County, Wash.

"The National Association of Letter Carriers provides a critical source of much needed nutritious, shelf-stable food," says Rachel Bristol, CEO of Oregon Food Bank. "This drive is especially important during these difficult economic times when so many of our neighbors have lost their jobs, savings and homes. I encourage everyone to participate in this important, one-day food drive."

Wells Fargo has donated $37,000 to Oregon Food Bank to co-sponsor the food drive in Oregon and southwest Washington.

"More than 600 of our team members will volunteer for this event at 47 locations throughout the region," said Wells Fargo Regional President Don Pearson of Portland. "We support the great work of the Oregon Food Bank Network in its efforts to feed our communities."

How to help:

1. Look for a white, plastic, degradable food drive bag in your mail during the first week of May.
2. Fill the bag (or any sturdy bag) with nutritious, nonperishable food. The Oregon Food Bank Network will recycle your bag.
3. Place it by your mailbox early on Saturday, May 14.

Letter carriers will collect nonperishable food donations left by mailboxes and take them to their local post office, where more than a thousand volunteers throughout Oregon and Clark County will pack the food. Trucks will pick up the food and deliver it to regional food banks of the Oregon Food Bank Network.

Most-wanted nonperishable foods include
Look for foods high in nutrition and low in sugar and fat, such as:

• canned meats (tuna, chicken, salmon),
• canned and boxed meals (soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese),
• canned or dried beans and peas (black, pinto, lentils),
• pasta, rice cereal,
• canned fruits, 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed),
• canned vegetables,
• cooking oil, boxed baking mixes.

Please NO Rusty or unlabeled cans, glass containers, perishable items, homemade items, noncommercial canned or packaged items, alcoholic beverages, mixes or soda, open or used items.

If you miss your letter carrier's daily visit, drop off your food donations at any post office by Wednesday, May 18.

The "Stamp Out Hunger" effort is the nation's largest single-day food drive. This NALC food drive has collected more than one-billion pounds of food nationally since the food drive's inception in 1993. Last year, letter carriers across the country collected a record of more than 73.4-million pounds of food.

In Oregon, always a bit ahead of the curve, letter carriers in Eugene started a food drive five years before the national effort began. This marks the 24th year that letter carriers have collected food in Oregon. Since its inception, the food drive has raised more than 15-million pounds in Oregon and southwest Washington.

The Need
Distribution of emergency food and the number of people served throughout the OFB Network remains at record high levels. Since the beginning of the Great Recession, distribution of emergency food boxes increased 17 percent to 917,000. In an average month, more than 240,000 people eat meals from emergency food boxes. That's the equivalent of 12 sold-out Rose Garden arenas - each month. Support
The NALC food drive is made possible by your local letter carriers, the U.S. Postal Service, Wells Fargo and many Oregon unions and community organizations, including: National Association of Letter Carriers, Oregon AFCSME Council 75, Oregon AFL-CIO, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, SEIU Local 503, UFCW 555 and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council.

Trucking is donated by Oak Harbor Freight, Maletis Beverage, Pacific Coast Fruit, Pacific Service Center, CEVA International, Walter E Nelson Company, Courier Direct and UPS Freight. Other supporters include the Oregon Food Bank Network.

About the Oregon Food Bank Network
The Oregon Food Bank Network is a cooperative statewide coalition of 20 regional food banks working to eliminate hunger and its root causes by distributing donated food to agencies serving low-income people and through advocacy and public education about the underlying causes of hunger.

For more information, call 1 (800) 777-7427 or (503) 282-0555 or visit wwww.oregonfoodbank.org.

Source: NALC Oregon