Letter Carriers Collect Record 73.4 Million Pounds of Food
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Despite an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent in May and tough economic times across the nation, working families responded with amazing generosity by donating a record 73.4 million pounds of non-perishable food in the 17th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” national food drive by the Letter Carriers (NALC) to restock community food banks and pantries.
In more than 10,000 cities and towns, letter carriers collected the food May 9 as they delivered mail along their postal routes. It is the nation’s largest one-day effort to address hunger.
NALC President William Young said:
This is an amazing testimony to the generosity of the American people, even as they themselves struggle to make ends meet in these hard times. Our members take pride in being able to serve their postal customers and help them assist millions of needy Americans, including many working families, children and the elderly.
Last year, letter carriers collected 73.1 million pounds of food. This is the sixth consecutive year that more than 70 million pounds was collected, which brings the total for the drive’s 17 years to more than 982 million pounds of food.
