Stamp Out Hunger drive collects 77,000 lbs. of food

Over 77,000 pounds of food were collected Saturday by local letter carriers in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. The amount was up over 10% from last year.

The National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service sponsored the drive, -- the largest one-day food drive in the U.S. It provides the Racine County Food Bank with almost 10% of the food distributed to local food pantries for the entire year.

Because of the Food Bank’s emphasis on its “Super Six Most Needed Items” list, volunteers who collected and sorted food from the drive reported that many of the donors took that list to heart, making the food collected even more useful.

Volunteers included representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Way of Racine County, the Racine Founders Rotary Club, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 767, the Racine Community Action Agency, Two Can Do It Movers, Pro-Build, Pioneer Products, Great Northern Corporation and the Racine Storm youth basketball team and coaches. They all donated their time, and in many cases, vehicles and equipment to assist the Food Bank in this huge undertaking.

The Racine County Food Bank is a United Way Partner Provider that provides food assistance to pantries, shelters and meal programs throughout Racine County, who, in turn, provide an average of over 60,000 meals each month.