Since last week’s storms, the already slim food pantries have been hit hard, which makes this year’s food drive by the National Association of Letter Carriers that much more important.
That’s taking place tomorrow, and you’ll be able to help, even better, you don’t even need to leave your home, just take a simple walk to the mailbox.
For your mail carrier, however, it’s a lot of work and makes for a tough day.
“On this day, they’re going around picking up food and delivering mail as well as packages, letters, flats, but it’s their time to shine,” said Patrick Rothwell, the Executive Vice President of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 84.
They sure have shone; they have collected millions of pounds of food for the food pantries.
“These food pantries dry up right after the holidays, and this food drive is the largest one-day, single-day food drive across the country, and it replenishes all these pantries and churches,” Rothwell said.
What’s collected comes back to the collection points at the post offices, where the local food pantries or churches that run pantries pick up the donations. Here locally, the balance goes to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
“A lot of the pantries in these small communities, from East Pittsburgh, Braddock, always the north and west, a lot of them go to pantries,” Rothwell said. “Carriers will drive it right to the pantry when they’re done delivering.”
Now, in the 32nd year, they’re looking for canned goods, non-perishables like boxed pasta, cereal, peanut butter, toilet paper, and while they’ll take things in glass bottles, they’d prefer not to do so because it can cause a mess if or when it breaks.
For you? All you have to do is box it, bag it, or do whatever works and your mail carrier will pick it up!
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