Volunteers unload, sort and box food at the NALC Stamp Out Hunger food drive at the Collier Harvest Foundation Warehouse. COURTESY PHOTOS
The National Association of Letter Carriers and Collier Harvest Foundation are partnering once again for the nation’s largest single day food drive, Stamp Out Hunger. On the second Saturday of May, for the last 27 years, mail carriers from across the nation have collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of non-perishable food left by customers’ mailboxes in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. This year’s drive is Saturday, May 11. In Collier County, this food is delivered to Collier Harvest.
For Collier Harvest, this annual event starts long before mid-May. The food donations will help sustain the agencies it serves during the long summer months so it’s important to bring awareness of Stamp Out Hunger well before the event. With the help of church bulletins, neighborhood newsletters, other media outlets and even the Naples St. Patrick’s Day parade, Collier Harvest spreads the word of how easy it is to donate. This is a great opportunity for seasonal residents who are leave before May 11th to clear out their cupboards and donate their unopened, nonperishable food before heading home. Food donations can be left for mail carriers or brought to one of the local postal branches. Volunteer drivers pick up early donations from the post office each week to be boxed and stored at the Collier Harvest warehouse.
Last year Collier County residents donated 257,800 pounds of non-perishable food which was soon thereafter distributed to local agencies who help feed and serve those in need in our community. Agencies such as Providence House, Youth Haven, Collier Senior Resources, NAMI, Jewish Family and Community Services along with many other nonprofit and churches rely on these food donations to feed those in their agencies who don’t have access to healthy food. The goal for Collier Harvest is to collect enough food to see these agencies through the summer. For many residents, budgets that are already stretched, are strained even more due to seasonal work hours being reduced or eliminated along with increased child care expenses while school is out. Many of these residents rely on the school food programs to help feed their children and when there is no school there is often no food.
On the day of the drive up to 200 volunteers gather, working shifts from noon until 7 p.m., sorting and boxing food as the mail trucks and other volunteer drivers deliver donations to the warehouse. A local band plays live music, and plenty of pizza and refreshments are on hand to keep volunteers motivated throughout the day. The spirit of community is widely felt as school clubs, businesses and civic organizations volunteer their group’s time and energy the day of the drive.
Leaving before the drive? Donate your unopened non-perishables before you leave.
Do you enjoy volunteering and having fun while doing so? Contact Collier Harvest at the phone or email address below to sign up to volunteer the day of the drive.
Lastly, donate a bag of non-perishable food and leave it by your mailbox or mailroom early on the morning of Saturday, May 11. All food donations stay here in Collier County to help feed our hungry neighbors.
For more information or to sign up to volunteer call 455-FOOD, email info@collierharvest.org or visit www.collierharvest.org. ¦
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