On Saturday, May 11, residents can team up with their letter carriers to help “Stamp Out Hunger,” an annual event now in its 21st year that has become the largest single-day food drive in the Bay Area.
To participate, residents can place a sturdy bag of non-perishable food items like peanut butter, pasta, rice, low-sugar cereal and canned foods by their mailboxes before their mail is delivered May 11, according to a press release from Second Harvest Food Bank.
Letter carriers will collect the food items and deliver them to their local food bank to be distributed to those at risk of hunger in the community.
Last year, the Bay Area Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected more than 1 million pounds of food for those in need, with 270,000 pounds going to Second Harvest Food Banks in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the press release said.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the U.S., more than 50 million Americans, including nearly 17 million children, are struggling with hunger.
“We appreciate the enormous effort put into this drive each year by our local letter carriers,” said Kathy Jackson, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. “The food they collect will help to feed the nearly 250,000 people Second Harvest serves each month. The number of people who rely on the food bank every month continues to edge up despite the improving economy.”
To learn more about Stamp Out Hunger visit www.helpstampouthunger.com.
