Mail Food to CRRC on Saturday!

How many pounds of canned food will you “mail” to the Community Resource and Recreation Center (CRRC) of Canyon Lake on Saturday, May 12 during the 26th Annual Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive?

Last year, Canyon Lake residents left some 7,392 pounds cans of food sitting by their mailboxes for letter carriers to pick up and deliver straight to the food pantry, 1917 FM 2673, Canyon Lake.

This year, they’re again advised to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice or cereal next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery on Saturday.

The Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive, the country’s largest single-day food drive, provides residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need.

Last year, the nation’s 175,000 letter carriers collected a record 80.1 million pounds of food donations along their postal routes. That brought the total since NALC’s food drive began in 1993 to more than 1.5 billion pounds.

The Letter Carriers’ food drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. It remains as important as ever, with many people facing economic struggles. Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans.

Letter carriers see these struggles in the communities they serve, and believe that it is important to do what they can to help.

“Over its first quarter-century, the food drive has only grown in importance and in impact,” says NALC President Fredric Rolando. “It’s an honor to be able to help people in need all across the United States – and to do so in a way that brings out the best in so many Americans.”

The timing is important, with food banks, pantries and shelters running low on donations from the winter holidays and with summer approaching, when most school meal programs are suspended.

National partners are assisting NALC in the food drive include the U.S. Postal Service, United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valpak and Valassis.