Postal carriers seek donations of food

Offerings collected Saturday

5/9/2014

Northwest Ohio mail carriers are asking residents to help them “Stamp Out Hunger” on Saturday, by donating food that will be used to feed the hungry.

Residents are asked to put donated food in grocery bags and place the bags next to their mailboxes where mail carriers will pick them up during their regular Saturday routes, said Mike Hayden, president of Branch 100, National Association of Letter Careers. Donations also can be dropped off this week at any post office.

More than 170,000 pounds of food were collected in northwest Ohio in 2013; second only in the state to Cleveland, which has three times the population, Mr. Hayden said.

“Our goal this year is to collect 200,000 pounds of food, which is kind of ambitious,” Mr. Hayden said.

The Lucas County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution in recognition of the Stamp Out Hunger effort.

The collected food will be sorted and then delivered to local food pantries, said Andy Adkinson, vice-president of Branch 100, National Association of Letter Careers. Donated food should be nonperishable.

The annual Stamp Out Hunger effort was started 22 years ago, said Rebecca Dusseau, a South Toledo area letter carrier who has participated in the program for 12 years. During her route she often sees people in need; the misconception is that only the homeless are going hungry, she said.

“It warms my heart when we see a bag of groceries that will be used to help those in need,” she said.