NEW ORLEANS – Second Harvest Food Bank and the National Association of Letter Carriers will join forces once again for the 25th Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Saturday, May 13.
Letter carriers across the Greater New Orleans area will pick up donations of non-perishable food items from mailboxes to be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. Carriers from Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes, plus parts of the Northshore and Thibodaux, will participate. The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is supported locally with a sponsorship from BP that funds the distribution of more than 500,000 specially-marked food collection bags to households across the region.
Letter carriers will deliver the food collection bags in mailboxes the week of May 8. Residents are asked to fill the bags, or any sturdy bag, with non-perishable food items such as peanut butter, soups/stews and other canned goods, cereals, beans, rice or pasta. Filled donation bags should be placed next to the mailbox prior to regular mail delivery on May 13 to be picked up by local letter carriers. These bags will be delivered to Second Harvest Food Bank for distribution to families in need. Monetary donations are also accepted and can be made securely online here.
“This food drive has grown exponentially each year, and we hope to shatter our record for this 25th anniversary,” said Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “The timing works well to help us prepare for the increased need for food assistance in the summer months when children are without the free and reduced-price meals they receive during the school year. Second Harvest helps by providing those meals so struggling families do not have to worry about additional food expenses during the summer.”
“For the past eight years, BP has proudly supported Second Harvest’s effort to stamp out hunger across the entire southeast Louisiana region, helping to provide meals for families, children, and seniors in our area,” said Karl Connor, director of communications and external affairs for BP America. “We are committed to supporting the communities where our employees live and work, and our partnership with Second Harvest and the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive allows us to contribute to the well-being of our neighbors who need it most.”
The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is the largest food drive of the year for Second Harvest Food Bank. Last year, local letter carriers collected a record 276,422 pounds of food, the equivalent of 230,252 meals. Nationally, the National Association of Letter Carriers collected 80 million pounds of non-perishable food items bringing the cumulative total to 1.5 billion pounds over the drive’s 25-year history.
“Too many people in this country are going hungry,” said Pam Donato, national Stamp Out Hunger food drive coordinator. “We know this to be true because we see it as we deliver to every address in America at least six days a week. The food drive is just one of the many ways letter carriers give back to our communities,” she said. “It’s time for us to shine once again.”
