(VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.) – On Saturday, May 10, Ventura County letter carriers will be carrying more than just incoming and outgoing mail, and community members won’t have to venture far from their doorsteps to give back to the local hungry in a big way.
The day will mark the 22nd annual National Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive –the largest single-day food drive—when thousands of letter carriers across the country will collect residences’ food donations for their local food banks. To date, almost 1.3 billion pounds of food has been collected nationwide since the massive food drive launched. Last year, FOOD Share, received more than 150,000 pounds of food to support the 74,500 hungry individuals as a result of the single-day food drive.
Ventura County residents are asked to leave non-perishable, protein-rich foods in a bag next to their mailboxes for postal carriers to pick up while on their daily route. The donations will then be collected from participating post offices and taken to FOOD Share’s distribution site in Oxnard.
Corporate sponsors of the local event, Farmers Insurance and Montecito Bank &Trust, will team up with the National Association of Letter Carriers to provide funds, resources and company volunteers to support FOOD Share’s missions of feeding, nourishing and educating the hungry of Ventura County.
“It’s amazing how much a single-day food drive can have a profound impact replenishing our distribution site’s shelves,” explains Bonnie Weigel, president and CEO of FOOD Share. “Today, one in six people in Ventura County struggle with hunger and this issue doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Every donation makes a difference and is truly appreciated. I encourage everyone to join us in making Stamp Out Hunger a success.”