NALC "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive

The 18th Annual "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive, the largest one-day food drive in the United States, is set for Saturday, May 8. Residents are asked to leave nonperishable food donations in bags or boxes by their mailboxes.

More than 325,000 pounds of food was donated to Second Harvest North Florida through the NALC event in 2009, and the goal is to secure 500,000 pounds in 2010.
 
Residents receive a postcard reminder in their mailbox during the week leading up to the event. They are asked to leave nonperishable food donations in bags or boxes by their mailboxes, which will be picked up by their Postal Service letter carriers as they deliver mail on their routes. Publix has donated bags that will be distributed to mailboxes throughout north Florida, but any bag or box can be used.
 
"While this drive is a lot of extra work for the carriers, they realize where the food is going - here in Jacksonville - and how much of an impact it makes," said Bob Henning, a local agent for the NALC. "All the motivation we need is to walk into the food bank this time of year, when kids are getting out of school, and see the empty food shelves. When our carriers deliver the mail, they see hungry families on their routes. This drive is a way to help those families."

National sponsors of the event include Campbell's, the U.S. Postal Service, the United Way, Feeding America and Valpak. Daily Billboard is a local sponsor of the event, providing billboard space for a series of local advertisements about the food drive.