Local postal workers and Golden Harvest Food Bank are gearing up for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger campaign, now in its 25th year.
On Saturday, May 13, community members can participate by placing nonperishable food items in a bag and leaving it by their mailbox.
Postal workers will pick up the bags on their routes, and all donations will go to help Golden Harvest and its partner agencies in their ongoing efforts to feed the CSRA’s hungry.
“Each year, this drive gains strength as we show how much we care for the hungry and food insecure living among us,” said Travis McNeal, executive director of Golden Harvest. “Every donation reaches a family in need right here in the CSRA.”
Stamp Out Hunger occurs annually in May and provides a much-needed boost in inventory to Golden Harvest and food banks across the United States.
Golden Harvest Food Bank serves the hungry in its 30-county service area in eastern Georgia and western South Carolina.
The food bank was founded in Augusta in 1982, and now operates from three distribution centers – Augusta, Aiken and Anderson.
Golden Harvest is a locally supported nonprofit that provides grocery products to the hungry through a network of more than 300 direct service programs and food pantries.
Golden Harvest distributed more than 17.3 million pounds of grocery products to those in need in fiscal year 2016, according to a press release.
Throughout the summer, donations typically decrease as families are busy with summer activities and donation stockpiles from high influx periods in November and December have typically run out.
At the same time, families in need face higher utility bills due to summer heat and the pressure to provide more at-home meals for children on summer vacation who would typically rely on school-provided lunches.
“Too many people in this country are going hungry,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “We know this to be true because we see it as we deliver to every address in America. ... The food drive is just one of the many ways letter carriers give back to our communities.”
Last year, the Augusta and Aiken branch offices brought in more than 148,000 pounds of nonperishable items through the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, according to the release.