August 2024 Postal Record

August 5-9, 2024 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive E very year, letter carriers collect tens of millions of pounds of food during our annual Letter

proud to be a part of such a powerful force connecting the community to food and hope. For more than 15 consecutive years, with the help of volunteers and our partners, we collected more than 75 million pounds of food annually. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced the cancellation of the food drive in 2020 and 2021, but it did not slow letter carriers’ commitment to sup- porting food banks. We replaced the food drive with an online donor drive, and NALC Headquarters matched the donations made from our branch treasuries. This yielded a little more than $1 million each of those years for food banks. The in-person food drive returned in 2022, and the nationwide total of collected food reported was approx- imately 39 million pounds. 2023’s nationwide total of collected food stood around 39 million pounds with an additional 500,000 pounds of food donated by Kellogg Co. Nationwide, local food banks and pantries received $212,808 in cash donations, raising the 2023 total to 42 million pounds. While this is still an outstanding feat, there is more work to do together to reach our pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, we continued building on more than a quarter-century of delivering hope and help to those in need. Tampa, FL Branch 599 collect- ed 1,955,085 pounds of food, result- ing in the most food collected overall.

Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger ® Food Drive. The success of the food drive is due in large part to letter carri- ers, volunteers, and generous sup- port from our partners including the U.S. Postal Service, the United Food and Commercial Workers In- ternational Union, AFL-CIO, Valpak, United Way Worldwide, Kellanova, Vericast, CVS Health, and the Na- tional Rural Letter Carriers’ Asso- ciation. This remarkable feat proves what we can accomplish together with commitment, determination and hard work. While the total pounds of food col- lected is hard to visualize, the faces of those we help are all too familiar— children, seniors, and working fami- lies struggling to make ends meet. They inspire us to keep the drive moving forward—one donation, one person, one family at a time. Our commitment to community service exceeds our routes. Every year, letter carriers in every com- munity work with family members, friends, other postal co-workers and allies on the second Saturday in May to give something back to the com- munities where they live and serve. The U.S. Postal Service’s nationwide network, coupled with the trusted relationship letter carriers have with the American public, serves as a dy- namic base for the food drive. We are

With 50 percent of NALC branches and rural offices reporting, the na- tionwide total of collected food was approximately 36 million pounds. Local pantries received $392,738.20 in cash donations, raising the total to 40 million pounds. In the quarter-century since it be- gan, the Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has resulted in more than 1.9 billion pounds of food collected, replenishing food shelves in thousands of community food banks nationwide and help- ing countless Americans when they needed it most. While times continue to challenge us on many fronts, our combined ef- forts and action continue to make a difference by improving lives and uplifting communities.