Letter carriers to collect food donations on Saturday
Letter Carrier Melanie Spaeth brings in several bags of canned goods from her route during last year's Stamp Out Hunger event.
FILE PHOTO
MOSES LAKE — This Saturday, May 13, letter carrier and U.S. Postal Service employees will be collecting cans and boxes of food as part of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
The food drive is held every second Saturday in May, according to Gary Schleppenbach, a retired letter carrier who lives in Moses Lake, and was first held by postal employees in 1992.
“The timing of our food drive in May comes at a good time because the majority of food banks and pantries have been depleted from the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons,” Schleppenbach said. “So entering summertime, supplies are low at the time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.”
To participate, Schleppenback said area residents can leave non-perishable food donations either in their mailbox or in a bag by their mailbox on Saturday, or they can drop donations off at the main Post Office at 223 W. Third Ave. in Moses Lake either in the lobby or on the back dock.
During the 30 years of the food drive, Schleppenbach said postal carriers have collected over 1.82 billion pounds of non-perishable food across the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
For more information, visit the National Association of Letter Carriers website at www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive.