In the digital age, pen-pals and packages from grandma seem to be fading memories, but the days of snail mail have not completely vanished; in fact, this weekend you can do more than send letters from your mailbox, you can actually send dinner.
The 22nd Annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Food Drive is this Saturday, May 10. The food drive is a two-part operation that functions by residents placing non-perishable food items near their mail box, which mail carriers then pick up and deliver to participating food banks.
“The post office will mail out plastic bags, and while they do their regular mail routes, they will be picking up food at the same time,” said Carolyn Folley, marketing director for United Way of Okaloosa/Walton Counties.
Folley told The Log that last year the annual food drive garnered 148,623 pounds of non-perishable food items in the two counties combined and helped to stock 30 local food banks.
“The food that we get from this sustains the food banks through the summer, now is when they really need it,” Folley said.
Lori Joyner, Executive Director for the Harvest House in Destin, said that the NALC food drive is the largest, most important food drive of the year.
“We really appreciate it, it’s our biggest food drive, and it makes a big impact on us,” she said.
Joyner explained that last year Harvest House served 4,450 people and averaged 1.25 tons of food, but that those numbers are getting larger.
“The demand for food and the need for food in our area has increased every year, and it just keeps growing,” she said.
Since the beginning of this year, Harvest House has already spent a little more than $19,000 on food purchases to supplement a shortage of donated food for the pantry.
“That’s really crazy actually. We are in desperate need of food,” she said.
Joyner said that the most popular food items at the food bank are canned meats, such as tuna, chicken, and ham, canned fruit, cereal, and peanut butter and jelly.
“Those are the most expensive items,” she said. “That would help us out tremendously.”
Destin mail carrier, Percy Smith has participated in the food drive program for 20 years, and told The Log that this event is something he looks forward to every year.
“As far as I can remember, we’ve done it every year that it’s been in existence,” he said. “We extend our hours, and have two drops. Sometimes the carriers have so much that they have to go back.”
Smith said that donation bags will be placed in local mailboxes Thursday.
“If you find a bag in your mail box please don’t throw it away,” he said. “If you would fill it up with food we would greatly appreciate it.”
Folley noted that there are a few things to remember when donating food. Most importantly, the items must be within the printed use-by date, as most food banks are not allowed to accept expired food.
“We take any type of non-perishable, non-expired canned, and boxed items, even baby food.” she said.
When placing food outside for pick-up, make sure it is bagged, as water-logged food items cannot be used.
“If it’s raining, it’s a good idea to put the food in a plastic bag,” said Folley.
Finally make sure to get your donations ready early, as mail carriers follow their normal routes, and delivery times.
“I would suggest on getting it out pretty early to catch the letter carrier before 8 a.m.,” said Folley.
This year 13 mail carriers in Destin will take part in the food drive, representing the fifteenth year that Destin has taken part in this nationwide event.
“It’s amazing, the big mail cart carriers are full,” said Folley. “It’s great the amount of participation from the community. The community really helps and supports us.”