Help Stamp Out Hunger Saturday

Local letter carriers are asking for the public’s help this weekend in the fight to “stamp out hunger.”

On Saturday, letter carriers are holding the 24th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.

The National Association of Letter Carriers organizes the food drive each year across America and locally, letter carriers in Toccoa, Martin, and Eastanollee will participate once again this year.

Toccoa Post Office Letter Carrier Michael Waddell said that Stephens County residents can donate to the drive by leaving non-perishable food at their mailboxes Saturday morning to be picked up by their letter carrier.

“Non-perishable food items that are requested are dried cereal, pasta, rice, and beans,” said Waddell. “We ask for canned foods such as fruits, vegetables, soup, tuna, and chicken. We ask for 100 percent juice, peanut butter, pasta sauce, macaroni and cheese.”

According to Waddell, non-perishable food items can also be dropped off on Saturday at the Toccoa Post Office.

All of the food that is donated will remain in this community and go to the Stephens County Food Bank on West Whitman Street in Toccoa.

Waddell said that the letter carriers are hoping for another successful year.

“Locally last year, we collected 10,881 pounds for the Stephens County Food Bank and that is four straight years of collecting over 10,000 pounds and we hope to reach the goal of 10,000 pounds again this year for the Stephens County Food Bank,” said Waddell.

He said that the food from the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive provides two months of food for hundreds of people for the Stephens County Food Bank.

Nationally, this is the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

Last year across America, 71 million pounds of food were collected and since 1992, over 1 billion pounds of food have been collected through the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.

Waddell said that as always, the letter carriers appreciate the community’s support for this drive each year.