Join Connecticut Food Bank in Largest Single-Day Food Drive May 14 to Help “Stamp Out Hunger”

10/May/16 / 17:51

WALLINGFORD, CONN., May 10, 2016 – The Connecticut Food Bank is asking for the community’s support on May 14 as it joins America’s letter carriers in the annual Stamp Out Hunger Stamp Out Hunger Logofood 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 support local food banks and the one in eight Americans who struggle with hunger.

 

Residents in the six counties served by the food bank – Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham – can join the Connecticut Food Bank and support community members who struggle with hunger by collecting non-perishable food items and leaving them in a sturdy bag near their mailboxes on Saturday, May 14. A letter carrier will collect the donations and deliver them to local food assistance programs in partnership with the Connecticut Food Bank. Items will be help those facing hunger in your community.

 

“Stamp Out Hunger allows communities across the country to come together on one day to fight hunger. We are so grateful to 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,” said Paul O’Leary, Connecticut Food Bank Interim CEO.

 

According to Feeding America’s recently released Map the Meal Gap 2016 study, more than 300,000 people in the six counties served by the Connecticut Food Bank struggle with hunger, including nearly 100,000 children. 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 in an effort to stock the shelves of food banks and pantries nationwide. The event is held on the second Saturday of May each year. Last year, the Connecticut Food Bank and local letter carriers worked together to deliver 420,355 pounds of donated food to help those in need.

 

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is held in cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Last year, letter carriers collected nearly 71 million pounds of food donations for donation to their local food bank and pantries.

 

The United States Postal Service, AFL-CIO, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, United Way, Valassis and Valpak are all supporting this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

 

About the Connecticut Food Bank:

The Connecticut Food Bank is the state’s non-profit leader in the fight against hunger and the largest provider of charitably donated food. The Connecticut Food Bank partnered with the food industry, food growers, donors and volunteers to provide enough food last year to prepare more than 18.5 million meals. We distribute that food through a network of community based programs to more than 300,000 people across six Connecticut counties. Visit us on the web at www.ctfoodbank.org, like us on Facebook and follow @CTFoodBank on Twitter and Instagram.

 

About National Association of Letter Carriers

The 280,000-member NALC 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.

 

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