Letter carriers to hold May 14 food drive

MOSES LAKE — Letter carriers across Grant County will be gathering boxes and cans of food on Saturday, May 14, as part of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

“We’re inviting the community to participate by just leaving canned goods at their mailbox,” said Gary Schleppenbach, a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service and head of the local letter carrier’s association.

“Throughout the day we will pick up non-perishable items, canned foods and different things that people leave near their mailbox or on their front porch,” he said.

At the end of the day, Schleppenbach said mail carriers in the Moses Lake area will gather up all the donations and take them to the Moses Lake Food Bank.

According to a press release from the National Association of Letter Carriers, the food drive was first held in 1983, and is timed for mid-May to help local food banks replenish stocks that have typically been reduced over the winter.

Like a lot of regularly-scheduled events over the last few years, Schleppenbach said, letter carriers were not able to collect food donations in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was enough in the way of new membership dues for the union to donate cash instead of food.

“We’re not able to do that all the time,” he said. “So it’s exciting that the public has an opportunity to participate.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.