Published: April 30, 2008 09:37 am      

Here’s your chance to help the hungry in the Gateway area

Saturday, May 10, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America will deliver more than the mail when they walk and drive along their postal routes. They will also be gathering the generosity of their postal customers who participate in the 16th national NALC National Food Drive, the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

In 2007, the 300,000 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers collected 70.5 million pounds of food. Locally over 20,000 pounds were collected and delivered to area food banks. The impact of this food drive is felt for months.

It is easy for people to participate. Just place non-perishable food or toiletry items near your mailbox. Letter carriers and their volunteers will do the rest. All food collected will be given to local area food banks. Some items needed include canned fish, fruits, juice, meat and vegetables, disposable diapers, baby food, dry milk, pasta, peanut butter, shampoo, bar soap, toilet paper, toothpaste and laundry soap.

Nearly 50 percent of food pantry clients served by the America’s Second Harvest Network live in rural or suburban areas. Hunger also affects many of the area’s working poor. For low-income families the balance between self-sufficiency and poverty is unpredictable. A single unanticipated expense such as a car repair or illness can be financially disastrous forcing families to choose between medicine and food. Too many senior citizens do not get enough to eat. It is inexcusable that after a lifetime of hard work, 3.4 million Americans age 65 and over live in poverty. Many survive on fixed incomes that barely cover the cost of healthcare and expensive medications, leaving little for buying food. With the housing market in decline, gas prices rising and the economy in shambles, food pantries have become a necessity for hundreds in our area.

An estimated 35.5 million people go hungry every year including more than 12 million children. Letter carriers see the face of hunger every day and they know the names. Around Thanksgiving and Christmas many people give generously to food pantries. However, hunger is a year round problem and perhaps more severe in summer. By summer many pantries are empty. This is why the NALC place their food drive in May to help shore up the pantries during this critical time.

Towns participating this year include Clinton, Camanche, DeWitt, Bryant, Goose Lake, Andover, Charlotte, Low Moor, and Fulton and Hillsdale, Ill.

Won’t you help your letter carrier to stamp out hunger?

Cindi Kusk,

Food Drive Coordinator Branch 126, Clinton, Ill.