Gurjant Khosa has been involved in the letter carriers’ effort since the drive’s inception in 1993 – the first 10 years as a Pleasanton letter carrier.
“I take this drive very personally,” said Khosa, who now serves as the postmaster for the Pleasanton Post Office. “We’ve been very successful at this post office in producing increasingly more food for the Food Bank each year. I’m confident that we’ll increase the intake in Pleasanton this year.”
Much of Khosa’s optimism is linked to Pleasanton’s track record for producing big in the NALC Drive; in 2008, residents contributed 13,000 pounds of food – over 11 percent of the total for Alameda County, which has 19 post offices participating in the drive.
“The people of Pleasanton have been an exceptional partner in the fight against hunger,” Bateson said. “Their actions have spoken volumes over the years.”
It was Pleasanton, in fact, that Bateson identified as the test city for a biodegradable bag program to extract even bigger donations for the May 9 drive. The blue bags, which features comic-page artist Bill Keane’s “Family Circus” characters – Keane annually donates a drawing to promote the drive – will be delivered to 20,000 Pleasanton postal patrons three days before the drive, Khosa said. On the following day, postal patrons will receive a postcard reminder to fill up those bags for the Saturday drive.
Pleasanton is the only community in Alameda County receiving the bags – residents elsewhere must supply their own packaging for their non-perishable donations. The city’s 65 letter carriers do the rest, transporting the donated food to the collections bins at the Village Parkway post office. From there, the food is trucked to Food Bank, where it is weighed, sorted and distributed to a network of 176 food pantries, soup kitchens and community agencies throughout Alameda County.
Food donations for the drive have taken a dip for three consecutive years throughout the county. Not so in Pleasanton, where donations have steadily increased on annual basis.
“People generally think of Pleasanton as an upscale community,” Khosa said, “But this economic crisis has affected people in every community. The people here understand that. I’m confident that they’ll respond in kind on May 9.”
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PIEDMONT, MONTCLAIR AND OAKLAND HILLS
Audrey Osbey has been involved in the letter carriers’ effort since the drive’s inception in 1993 – first as a letter carrier in San Pablo, then as a member of the postal management team.
“Our station has been one of the most successful collection sites,” said Osbey, the station manager of the 41st Street (Oakland) Post Office that serves Piedmont, Montclair and the Oakland hills. “The people in this community have always been willing to step up and give. I think that giving spirit that will be more evident than ever in this economy.”
In the 2008 Letter Carriers’ drive, the 41st Street location collected 6,196 pounds of food – fourth among the 19 participating post offices throughout Alameda County.
“We need donations this year more than ever,” said Dennis Stecz, a San Lorenzo letter carrier and the longtime Alameda County coordinator for the drive. “Piedmont has proven to be the little city with the big heart – in Montclair’s case, the little community with the big heart.”
The format hasn’t changed since the inaugural drive in 1993. Postal customers simply leave donations of non-perishable foods like rice, beans, peanut butter, pasta and canned vegetables in a bag or box beside their residential or business mailbox. The letter carriers of Piedmont and Montclair do the rest, transporting the donated food to the collections bins at the 41st Street Post Office. From there, the food is trucked to Food Bank, where it is weighed, sorted and distributed to a network of 176 food pantries, soup kitchens and community agencies throughout Alameda County.
Food donations for the drive have taken a dip for three consecutive years throughout the county. Not so in Piedmont and Montclair, where donations have steadily increased on annual basis.
“We generally have a barbecue the morning of the drive,” Osbey said. “This drive serves as a rallying point for the letter carriers. We take a lot of pride in doing our part.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Brian Higgins: (510) 636-4902 bhiggins@accfb.org
http://www.accfb.org/
Audrey Osbey has been involved in the letter carriers’ effort since the drive’s inception in 1993 – first as a letter carrier in San Pablo, then as a member of the postal management team.
“Our station has been one of the most successful collection sites,” said Osbey, the station manager of the 41st Street (Oakland) Post Office that serves Piedmont, Montclair and the Oakland hills. “The people in this community have always been willing to step up and give. I think that giving spirit that will be more evident than ever in this economy.”
In the 2008 Letter Carriers’ drive, the 41st Street location collected 6,196 pounds of food – fourth among the 19 participating post offices throughout Alameda County.
“We need donations this year more than ever,” said Dennis Stecz, a San Lorenzo letter carrier and the longtime Alameda County coordinator for the drive. “Piedmont has proven to be the little city with the big heart – in Montclair’s case, the little community with the big heart.”
The format hasn’t changed since the inaugural drive in 1993. Postal customers simply leave donations of non-perishable foods like rice, beans, peanut butter, pasta and canned vegetables in a bag or box beside their residential or business mailbox. The letter carriers of Piedmont and Montclair do the rest, transporting the donated food to the collections bins at the 41st Street Post Office. From there, the food is trucked to Food Bank, where it is weighed, sorted and distributed to a network of 176 food pantries, soup kitchens and community agencies throughout Alameda County.
Food donations for the drive have taken a dip for three consecutive years throughout the county. Not so in Piedmont and Montclair, where donations have steadily increased on annual basis.
“We generally have a barbecue the morning of the drive,” Osbey said. “This drive serves as a rallying point for the letter carriers. We take a lot of pride in doing our part.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Brian Higgins: (510) 636-4902 bhiggins@accfb.org
http://www.accfb.org/
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