Some 4,000 letter carriers in Oregon and Southwest Washington took part in the 24th annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive May 14. The food drive is held in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Nearly 1,500 NALC branches are involved, including Branch 82 in Portland. Food collected locally is distributed by the Oregon Food Bank. Totals weren’t available at press time, but Oregon typically collects about 1.1 million pounds.
“We are grateful to everyone who participates, and the hundreds of letter carriers who give their time to make this event happen,” said Oregon Food Bank CEO Susannah Morgan.
The food drive’s national partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, United Food and Commercial Workers, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, and Valassis.