News
Escambia and Santa Rosa Letter Carriers to Hold 27th Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
Pensacola, Fla. – April, 29, 2019
On Saturday, May 11, 2019, the letter carriers of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will join forces to help Stamp Out Hunger in our community. In its 27th year, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) annual food drive has grown to be the largest national single-day effort that benefits millions of Americans who struggle to put food on the table. In the last 27 years, communities across the nation have donated 1.67 billion pounds of food. Last year’s food drive netted 71.6 million pounds of food to help feed those in need. Locally, organizations received nearly 125,000 pounds of food from the drive.
“Stamp Out Hunger is the most important food drive for many food pantries in the area,” said DeDe Flounlacker, Executive Director of Manna. “The food collected by the letter carriers is critical to our ability to feed our neighbors in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Every donation helps ensure the immediate needs of the hungry can be met in the coming months.”
A donation of just one dozen cans provides three days’ worth of food, or nine meals for neighbors in need. Residents are encouraged to leave a bag of non-perishable food items, such as canned chicken, canned tuna, canned fruit in 100% juice, dry breakfast items (oatmeal, grits, whole grain cereal), canned vegetables, peanut butter, rice, and/or dry beans next to their mailbox prior to regular mail delivery on Saturday, May 11.
Escambia and Santa Rosa letter carriers will collect food donations for local food banks including Manna Food Pantries, Feeding the Gulf Coast in Pace and Milton, ACTS Ministry of Holley Assembly of God in Gulf Breeze, We Care Ministries of Navarre United Methodist Church, and Warrington Emergency Aid Center.
“We are so thankful to the NALC and our community for their support in this food drive. This food will greatly help our one in six neighbors struggling with hunger,” said Cathy Pope, President and CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast. In Escambia County, one in five individuals are food insecure.
Residents of the two-county area will receive a Stamp Out Hunger postcard reminder in the mail, as well as a bag to fill with donation items. For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, please visit www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.
Several partners are assisting the NALC in the food drive: the United States Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Valpak, United Way of Escambia County, Feeding the Gulf Coast, the AFL-CIO, the AARP Foundation and Valassis.