Each year, letter carriers across the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-perishable food items to benefit local food pantries. Since launching in 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has grown into the nation’s largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States.
The need is great, but you can help. We invite you to join letter carriers and our partner organizations in the fight to end hunger in our communities by participating in the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
Simply leave your donation of non-perishable food in a bag near your mailbox on the second Saturday in May, and your letter carrier will do the rest.
In addition, here in Johnson County, the local NALC Branch 373 carriers of Iowa City and Coralville, always asks for volunteers in our local community to help collect and sort food at the CommUnity Food Bank in Iowa City. Letter carriers frequently need volunteers to either pick up food they have collected or go through neighborhoods in advance to allow carriers to finish their routes on time on this day with the additional volunteer work. We also sort the food at CommUnity to help allow food to be packed and shipped to the North Liberty Community Pantry and the Coralville Community Food Pantry. It requires a small time commitment of typically shifts from noon to 2 PM or from 3 to 5 PM and we ensure that volunteers have lunch provided of pizza (donated from Hy-Vee) as well as snacks (donated from Kwik Star) and bottled water, sports drinks, and soft drinks available for our volunteers. There is a lot of activity going on that day but it is incredibly rewarding with letter carriers often collecting between 12 to 15,000 pounds of food each year.
If you would like to volunteer a sign up link will be included, it is www.volunteersignup.org/4BW8R
Event Location
CommUnity Food Bank
1045 HWY 6 East
Iowa City, Iowa
Event Contact
Ben Kayser
NALC Branch 373
bkayser2005@gmail.com
319-240-8138