Get ready for Letter Carriers’ Food Drive this Saturday

The 25th annual Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive is this Saturday, May 13. The food drive, sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and its partners, is the world’s largest one-day food drive, taking place in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

Last year, NALC members and other union volunteers collected more than 80 million pounds of food, setting a new record for the most food ever collected in this one-day food drive.

Make sure you leave some non-perishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 13. The AFL-CIO’s Union Label & Service Trades Department has a list of union-made food products that would make perfect donations.

“This remarkable feat proves what we can accomplish together with commitment, determination, solidarity and hard work,” said Jeff Johnson, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in a memo to affiliated unions urging them to publicize and participate in the food drive. “While the total pounds of food collected may be hard to visualize, the faces of those who are helped by this drive are all too familiar — children, seniors and working families struggling to make ends meet.”

One place where you can visualize the pounds of food collected is at the Pierce County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which conducts a Peanut Butter Challenge every year in conjunction with the NALC Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. PCCLC affiliates and rank-and-file union members collect thousands of jars of peanut butter each year, literally tons of food for Tacoma and Pierce County area food banks.

Today (May 10) is the final day to drop off PCCLC peanut butter donations for tallying and loading onto the Emergency Food Network truck, which will be at the lower IBEW 76 parking lot, 3049 S. 36th St. in Tacoma, from 5 to about 7 p.m. tonight.

To learn more about the NALC’s 2017 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, visit this website.