By Beth David, Editor
The annual food drive by the National Association of Letter Carriers held on 5/11/24 netted 4,680 pounds in Fairhaven. All donations went to the Shepherd’s Pantry in Acushnet.
Pantry director Gerry Payette said the total was about average when compared to recent years. Donations have been down as a whole he said, in recent years.
“It’s all food we didn’t have before,” said Mr. Payette. He thanked the volunteers and said the letter carriers worked hard.
Mr. Payette noted that collecting the food and getting it to the pantry was just step one. Next, each food needs to be checked to make sure it is not expired. Then it needs to be sorted and bagged for distribution.
The pantry distributes food on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m., 1215 Main Street, Acushnet, at the Long Plain United Methodist Church.
It is staffed completely by volunteers. If you would like to donate your time as a volunteer, you can call the pantry at 508-763-9289. If you would like to donate funds, send to P.O. 760, Fairhaven, MA 02719. There is a bin at the Millicent Library (Walnut Street entrance) and at Stop & Shop in Fairhaven, to drop off food.
The NALC Food Drive started more than 30 years ago. Since it began, the food drive has collected approximately 1.9 billion pounds of food for those in need.
Each year, letter carriers across the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-perishable food items to benefit local food pantries.
USPS patrons are asked to leave the food in or by their mailboxes for pickup by their regular letter carriers. Since launching in 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has grown into the nation’s largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States.
Learn more at https://www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive
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- Volunteers of the Shepherd’s Pantry in Acushnet pose next to some of the 4680 pounds of food collected on 5/11/24 during the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive by the National Association of Letter Carriers. L-R: Arlene Hansmann, Paul Roberts, Bob Rocha, Rachel and Mike Thomas, Ed Bouchard, Gerry Payette. (Not pictured: Don Collasius, Carolyn Nunez, Donald Ryle, Sarah Ryle.) Photo by Beth David.
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- Sarah Ryle takes boxes of food from a Post Office truck to make its way to the Shepherd’s Pantry food pantry in Acushnet, during the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers, on 5/11/24. Photo by Beth David.
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- Bob Bouchard (TOP) gets ready to slide a box of food down the makeshift ramp for Mike Thomas to guide onto a table at the Shepherd’s Pantry food pantry in Acushnet during the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers, on 5/11/24. Photo by Beth David.
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- Donald Ryle hands a box of food to Gerry Payette during the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers, on 5/11/24. Photo by Beth David.
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- A letter carrier hands a box of food to Gerry Payette during the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers, on 5/11/24. Photo by Beth David.
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- Food is beginning to pile up at the Shepherd’s Pantry food pantry in Acushnet during the annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers, on 5/11/24. Photo by Beth David.
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Click here to download the 05-16-24 issue: 05-16-24 NALCFoodDrive
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