Largest
single-day food drive to support families at risk of hunger to take place
across the Bay Area on Saturday, May 9
On Saturday, May 9, people from across the country will
partner with their letter carriers to help “Stamp Out Hunger.” Now in its 23rd
year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the largest single-day effort to
combat hunger in America and the largest single-day food drive to support Bay
Area Food Banks, which serve over 700,000 children, adults and seniors each
month.
To participate, residents are asked
to place a sturdy bag of non-perishable food items like peanut butter, pasta,
rice, low-sugar cereal, and canned foods such as tuna, meat, stew, soup, and
vegetables, by their mailbox before
their mail is delivered on Saturday, May 9. Letter carriers will collect
the food items and deliver them to their local food bank to then be distributed
to those at risk of hunger in their community.
“As Letter Carriers, we’re out on the
streets every day, meeting our neighbors, and have even become a part of many
families in the communities we serve,” said Anthony Lowe, Alameda County’s NALC
Food Drive coordinator. “But we also see who’s struggling – and unfortunately
those numbers are growing. This drive means a lot to the letter carriers,
personally, to be able to make a difference in our neighbors’ lives during this
time. We thank the community for all of their support to make this drive so
successful.”
Neil Zarchin, Grants Coordinator, Food Bank
of Contra Costa and Solano notes, “As a retired Letter Carrier, I understand how
much effort goes into the Food Drive. As a Food Bank employee, I understand how
empty the shelves are this time of year. Food banks all across the country
depend on the Food Drive each year. It’s amazing how the public responds to
their trusted Letter Carriers and helps their neighbors in need.”
Last year, the Bay Area Stamp Out
Hunger food drive collected more than 800,000 pounds of food for those in need.
In 2014, drive organizers across the country collected more than 70 million
pounds of total food donations for the tenth consecutive year.
Despite the generosity of millions
of Americans who have supported the letter carriers' food drive in previous
years, the need for food assistance still exists for many families. According
to Feeding America, the nation’s network of food banks, 1 in 7 Americans
currently rely on assistance from Food Banks. That ratio is higher in many Bay
Area communities where the skyrocketing cost of living has left even more
families struggling, while issues like California’s drought continue to add to food
bank concerns.
“Food banks are already stretched heading
into this high-need time of year,” said Suzan Bateson, executive director of
Alameda County Community Food Bank. “Summer break is difficult for families
that rely on free- and reduced-priced school meals. These parents are already
struggling to get by, and the added burden of bridging the meal gap can quickly
break fragile budgets. The generous support from Stamp Out Hunger helps stock
our shelves so that neighbors have the heathy food they need.”
About Bay Area Food Banks
Bay Area Food Banks is a
collaboration of seven local food banks serving northern California counties.
Collectively they serve 700,000 adults, seniors and children each month through
nearly 1,600 food pantries, children’s programs, shelters, soup kitchens,
residential programs, and other emergency food providers. Learn more at www.bayareahunger.org.
For comment or to visit your local Food Bank on May 9, please contact the appropriate food bank representative below.
Bay Area Food Banks - Media Contacts
Alameda County Community Food Bank
(510) 684-8655
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
(925) 677-7011
Redwood Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County)
(707) 523-7900, ext. 158
San Francisco Food Bank
(415) 282-1907, ext. 264
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa
Clara and San Mateo Counties
Caitlin Kerk - ckerk@shfb.org
(408) 858-9208
