The Stamp Out Hunger food drive will take place
across the Bay Area on Saturday, May 14
across the Bay Area on Saturday, May 14
On Saturday, May 14, letter carriers nationwide will partner
with residents on their delivery routes to help “Stamp Out Hunger.” Now in its
24th year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the largest single-day effort to
combat hunger in America and the largest single-day food drive to support Bay
Area Food Banks, which serve over 835,000 children, adults and seniors each
month.
To participate, residents are asked to place a sturdy bag of
non-perishable food items like peanut butter, pasta, rice, low-sugar cereal,
and canned foods such as tuna, meat, stew, soup, and vegetables by their
mailbox before their mail is delivered on Saturday, May 14. Letter carriers
will collect the food and deliver it to their local food bank to then be
distributed to community members who are at risk of hunger.
Last year, the Bay Area Stamp Out Hunger food drive
collected more than 725,000 pounds of food for Bay Area Food Banks, the
equivalent of about 667,000 meals. In 2015, drive organizers across the country
collected more than 71 million pounds of food.
It was the 12th consecutive year that letter carriers have collected
more than 70 million pounds of food.
“I look forward to Stamp Out Hunger every year, because as
letter carriers we know the community,” said Madeline Dinoso, National
Association of Letter Carriers Coordinator and a Bay Area letter carrier for
the last 30 years. Dinoso has taken part in every Stamp Out Hunger drive, and
consistently reminds residents on her route by putting banners that advertise
the drive on her truck.
“We’re helping the whole community, especially children who
are in need,” she said.
Summer is high-need time for food banks, as families who
rely on free-and reduced-price school lunches are faced with the burden of
extra meals that can break already-fragile budgets.
Neil Zarchin, grants coordinator for the Food Bank of Contra
Costa and Solano notes, “As a retired Letter Carrier, I understand how much
effort goes into the Food Drive. As a Food Bank employee, I understand how
empty the shelves are this time of year.”
According to Feeding America, the nation’s network of food
banks, 1 in 7 Americans currently rely on assistance from food banks. That
ratio is higher in many Bay Area communities, where data from the Economic
Policy Institute estimates an income of $81,621 is needed for a family of four
just to meet basic needs in the Oakland/Fremont Metro area, and $91,785 in San
Francisco.
“The high cost of living in our area makes it difficult if
not impossible for families to get by, especially during the summer,” said
Suzan Bateson, executive director of Alameda County Community Food Bank. “The
generous support from Stamp Out Hunger helps stock our shelves so our neighbors
have the heathy food they need year round.”
Learn More About the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive: NALC.org
About Bay Area
Food Banks
Bay Area Food Banks is a collaboration of seven local food
banks serving northern California counties. Collectively they serve 835,000 adults,
seniors and children each month through nearly 1,575 food pantries, children’s
programs, shelters, soup kitchens, residential programs, and other emergency
food providers. Jointly, BAFB provides more than 171 million pounds of food
every year, the equivalent of more than 390,000 meals every day. Learn more at
bayareahunger.org.
Bay Area Food
Banks - Media Contacts
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Michael Altfest - maltfest@accfb.org
(510) 684-8655
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
Lisa Sherrill - rbraver@foodbankccs.org
(925) 677-7011
Redwood Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County)
Dalton Wiley - dwiley@refb.org
(707) 523-7902 x 114
San Francisco Food Bank
Goldie Pyka - gpyka@sfmfoodbank.org
(415) 282-1907 ext. 270
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo
Counties
Caitlin Kerk - ckerk@shfb.org
(408) 858-9208
