Letter carriers to collect food today for pantries

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

Customers simply leave their donation of non-perishable goods next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes and distribute them to local food pantries.

Last year’s event collected more than 255,000 pounds of food for pantries in southwest Missouri

Not only do 1 in 5 residents live below the poverty line and some go hungry in the Ozarks, local food pantries are struggling to keep their shelves full, according to organizers of the Letter Carriers’ Food Derive.  

People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag — paper or plastic — containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, peanut butter, rice or cereal, next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery.

Letter carriers will take that food to local food banks, pantries or shelters. Several partners are assisting the NALC in the food drive: the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Valpak, AFL-CIO Labor Engagement Partnership with United Way of the Ozarks, the AFL-CIO, the AARP Foundation and Valassis.