Mail carriers collected bags of food from customers along their routes on Saturday, and other unions helped sort and pack the items.
Joe Conrad from IBEW Local 22 helps load donations at the Elmwood postal station.
The National Association of Letter Carriers teamed up with mail customers Saturday for the 24th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
As part of the largest one-day food drive in the nation, carriers collected donations of nonperishable food from customers to help replenish local food pantries.
The drive is held each year on the second Saturday in May.
The effort helps to resupply food pantries that are often in low supply during the spring and summer, officials say. The demand is compounded when schools dismiss for the summer, meaning many children will not have access to free or reduced-cost school lunch.
Nationwide last year about 71 million pounds of nonperishable food was left in bags next to postal customers’ mailboxes for collection. Since its start in 1992, the drive has seen more than 1.4 billion pounds of food donated.
Last year the NALC Branch 5, which serves the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area, collected 240,465 pounds of food. Organizers said they hope to beat the amount this year. The official total will be released later this week.
Letter carriers distributed bags last week sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 22 Neca.
Andrea Malena, a local letter carrier and the food drive coordinator, said donations have tripled in number since the use of sponsored bags started.
Reitz Way Delivery Inc., a local shipping business, provided transportation to and from the food pantries. Members of the AFL-CIO and United Way of the Midlands Community Service Liaison also donated their time to transport the donations to local food pantries.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1304, news@owh.com
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