Join Connecticut Food Bank in Largest Single-Day Food Drive to Help Stamp Out Hunger

Join Connecticut Food Bank in Largest Single-Day Food Drive
to Help Stamp Out Hunger

High Rates of Food Insecurity Call for Much Needed Community Support

WALLINGFORD, CONN., May 12, 2017 – The Connecticut Food Bank is asking for the community’s support on May 13 as it joins America’s letter carriers and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Hosted each year by the National Association of Letter Carriers, Stamp Out Hunger is the largest single-day food drive in the country. The event helps to support local food banks and the one in eight Americans who struggle with hunger.

Area residents can join the Connecticut Food Bank and support community members who struggle with hunger by simply collecting non-perishable food items and leaving them in a sturdy bag near their mailboxes on May 13. A letter carrier will collect the donations and deliver them to local food banks and pantries, including the Connecticut Food Bank. Items will then be distributed to those facing hunger in communities across the Connecticut Food Bank six-county service area.

“Stamp Out Hunger is like no other food drive,” said Connecticut Food Bank CEO Bernie Beaudreau. “Communities across the country come together on one day to do their part to fight hunger. We are so grateful to the people who donate non-perishable items and for the letter carriers who take the time to collect each bag to help fight hunger in Connecticut.”

According to Feeding America, nearly 440,000 people in Connecticut – more than 12% of our population – struggle with hunger. One in six children in Connecticut does not know where their next meal will come from. Stamp Out Hunger is an opportune time for the public to support neighbors who struggle with hunger.

“Hunger affects every community in the country,” said Fredric Rolando, NALC president. “At least six days a week, our letter carriers are a local touch point in communities everywhere and we are thrilled to be able to support our neighbors in need though the Stamp Out Hunger food drive.”

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive was created in 1993 by the National Association of Letter Carriers to encourage communities to come together to stock the shelves of food banks and pantries nationwide. The event is held on the second Saturday of May each year. The Connecticut Food Bank and local letter carriers have worked together for several years to contribute to the national food drive. Last year, they delivered nearly 465,000 pounds of donated food to help those in need.

The Stamp Out Hunger 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. Last year, letter carriers collected over 70 million pounds of food donations to be donated to their local food bank and pantries.

Joining NALC this year as national food drive partners are the U.S. Postal Service, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, United Way Worldwide, AFL-CIO, AARP Foundation, Valpak and Valassis.

About National Association of Letter Carriers:

The 280,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers represents letter carriers across the country employed by the U.S. Postal Service, along with retired letter carriers. Founded by Civil War veterans in 1889, the NALC is among the country’s oldest labor unions.

About the Connecticut Food Bank:

The Connecticut Food Bank is committed to alleviating hunger in Connecticut by providing food resources, raising awareness of the challenges of hunger and advocating for people who need help meeting basic needs. The Connecticut Food Bank partners with the food industry, food growers, donors and volunteers to distribute nutritious food to people in need, which last year provided 18 million meals. We distribute that food through a network of community based programs to six Connecticut counties – Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham counties – where more than 300,000 people struggle with hunger. Visit us on the web at www.ctfoodbank.org, like us on Facebook and follow @CTFoodBank on Twitter and Instagram.

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