05/07/08 @ 10:51:07 am by archivesadmin
By: Emily Rea
Wait a minute, Mr. Post Man: We’ve got some food for you! Port City residents will be experiencing much more at their mailboxes on Saturday, May 10th, than simply peeking inside and withdrawing a few bills—they’ll be adding to the emptiness and helping fellow community members in need.
The public at large is invited to participate in this one-day food drive event to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, including our local branch in Wilmington. The organization works hard to serve the less fortunate in our area, and for one day on May 10th, joining the cause is easy: Those interested in making a difference can simply place bags filled with non-perishable food items next to or in their mailbox, and their letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to the food bank.
The truth of the matter is, hunger is not just a problem that exists beyond the boundaries of our beautiful coastal abode. It’s an ugly dilemma that exists right here among us, practically in our own backyards. That’s why the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has been coming to Wilmington for 16 years now.
“It is the single most efficient food drive in the Wilmington Branch service area,” Tommy Taylor of the Wilmington Food Bank says.
Created by the National Association of Letter Carriers in conjunction with the United States Postal Service, the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is the nation’s number-one largest single-day food drive. Last year it helped deliver over 70 million pounds of food to local food banks all across the country.
Of the amount of food expected to be donated this year, Taylor hopes the numbers will reach between 40,000 and 50,000 pounds. The beauty of this particular food drive is that, for donors, it takes very little time and effort. It doesn’t even require driving to the food bank itself! Letter carriers who make the rounds to residences all over town every day are an obvious and easy solution to picking up donations. But make no mistake: Volunteers are still desperately needed.
“Volunteers are needed at each post office to help the letter carriers load food from their vehicles to the trucks [from] 1pm to as late as 6pm,” Taylor describes.
For those who want to do their part at home, “First thing Saturday morning, May 10th, is the ideal time to place food on the mailbox before your letter carrier arrives. Friday night after the mail has been delivered would be an option for donors that may be leaving town Friday evening. . . . Glass is likely to be damaged, so please stick with cans, boxes or plastic packaging. It is preferable to hang the food on the mailbox. Non-perishables only.”
Items most in demand are canned meals (such as stews, soups, tuna and ravioli, preferrably in pop-top cans), peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, dried beans, as well as hygiene products (such as toothpaste, shaving items and soap), infant products (such as diapers, wipes, formula and infant cereal, but no loose glass and plastic jars of baby food) and paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels.
“We distribute the food to local nonprofits that serve our neighbors at risk of hunger,” Taylor explains. “We base the distributions on the number of clients each partner agency serves within the poverty population. The Wilmington branch serves over 50,000 neighbors at risk of hunger, and 33 percent of [them] are children!”
If donors are unable to donate food or time, every dollar donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina provides four meals to those in our community at risk of hunger. Ninety-seven cents of each dollar goes directly to the food bank’s food and food programs. For more information please visit www.foodbankcenc.org. Companies are welcome and encouraged to participate. If one is interested in volunteering, s/he should call the Cape Fear Volunteer Center at (910) 392-8180 to commit and reserve a T-shirt in the right size.
The organizations involved this year are Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the Yellow Freight Company, Roadway, the Cape Fear Volunteer Center, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, Teamsters Local 391, and local sponsors Cisco, Genworth Financial and Lowes Foods.
* * *
Participating post offices in our area are as follows:
Azalea Station; 3916 Oleander Drive.
Myrtle Grove Station; 5675 Carolina Beach Road.
Dogwood Station; 314 Lennon Drive.
Main Post Office; 152 North Front Street, downtown.
Magnolia Station; Porters Neck on Highway 17.
Categories: Gibbs
This is a combination of everything thet's been in Encore over the past few years. Can't find something? Let us know, and we'll look for it.
Sound off here
Saving the Port City from Boredom for over 21 years
