Grand Rapids Letter Carrier's Participate in 22nd Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

On Saturday, May 10, 2014, Second Harvest’s Grand Rapids Food Shelf will join forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to help Stamp Out Hunger in Grand Rapids. Now in its 22^nd year, the annual food drive has grown from a regional to a national effort that provides assistance to the millions of Americans struggling to put food on the table. The Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held on the second Saturday in May, has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive benefitting Feeding America’s network of Food Banks.

“We’re incredibly excited for the 22^nd year of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive,” said Susan Estee, Second Harvest Executive Director. “We’re asking people along the city and rural routes for their support to make this year the most successful in the drive’s history. It is so easy to make a donation: simply leave a bag of non-perishable food items by your mailbox to help neighbors in need. That’s all it takes.”

The need for food assistance continues to exist in Grand Rapids, and throughout every community in America. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 49 million Americans are food insecure, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food. Perhaps most alarming is the fact that nearly one in five children in Itasca County are living in a food insecure home.

To participate in the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Grand Rapids, residents are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable food items, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, rice or cereal, next to their mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on Saturday, May 10^th. Grand Rapids’ letter carriers will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to Second Harvest North Central Food Bank.

For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Grand Rapids, visit www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger.