On Saturday, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will once again gather food donations along their U.S. Postal Service routes for the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign.
Prior to that, cards will arrive at homes alerting postal patrons about the drive, which will benefit local residents in need.
For the drive, postal patrons are asked to fill bags with nonperishable food items and place them by their mailboxes for letter carriers to pick up and take back to their post offices.
The food will be taken to charitable organizations, like food pantries, and then distributed to those in need.
“It’s the same weekend as Mother’s Day,” said Festus letter carrier Patrick Henderson. “It’s the country’s biggest one-day food drive.
“Our goal is to collect more than last year. It’s all nonperishable food items. We’re not picking up toiletries or other items, just nonperishable food.”
Henderson, vice president of NALC Branch 4050, said the letter carriers his branch represents work at the Festus, Crystal City, Herculaneum, De Soto, Pevely and Hillsboro post offices.
Last year, the letter carriers working out of those post offices gathered about 22,000 pounds of food, Henderson reported.
Mail carriers look forward to it each year.
“Obviously, the Postal Service is community oriented,” he said. “The carriers care about their customers. To help out people in your community is a wonderful thing.
“The need for donations is greater with every passing year. There’s just more and more need.”
Fenton, High Ridge
Steven Powers, union representative for letters carriers working at the Fenton and High Ridge post offices, said his group collected 25,768 pounds of food during the 2023 Stamp Out Hunger effort.
“Our goal is to collect as much as possible,” Powers said.
He noted that the business community in his area helps greatly with the annual Stamp Out Hunger effort.
“They collect for it and also contribute money. Every dollar helps,” Powers said.
The food collected in the Fenton and High Ridge areas goes to the Feed My People and Peace Pantry food pantries, he said.
“I know their stocks have dwindled down,” Powers said. “Everybody’s hurting.”
Arnold
While waiting for a new Arnold Post Office to be constructed, letter carriers serving Arnold are working out of the Oakville Post Office.
Nevertheless, letter carriers who deliver to Arnold will collect donations as part of Stamp Out Hunger, said Joe Downey, the Arnold Post Office post master.
“All the food will still stay in Arnold even though we’re working out of here,” Downey said. “Usually, we get good participation. I would say we got about 10,000 pounds of food last year.”
For more information, visit the Stamp Out Hunger page on Facebook.