'Stamp Out Hunger' food drive up over 10%

Area residents gave their mail women and men a work out on May 8 - and the Racine County Food Bank benefited from all the effort.

Local Letter Carriers and the Letter Carriers Auxiliary banded together with the Racine Postmaster, Station Supervisors and many volunteers to collect over 77,000 pounds of food for those in need in the local community.

Slide show of food drive collection photos here.

The National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service sponsored its “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive on Saturday, May 8. It's the largest one-day food drive in the nation – and probably the world – and provides the Racine County Food Bank with almost 10 percent of the food that they need to supply their affiliates for the entire year

The total weight was up slightly over 10 percent from last year, and, because of the Racine County Food Bank’s emphasis on its “Super Six Most Needed Items” list, volunteers that collected and sorted food from the drive reported that many of the donors took that list to heart, making the food collected even more valuable to the Food Bank.

Volunteers included individuals and families along with 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 to those less fortunate in our community.