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.

'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.

Drives raise 22,721 lbs. of food, $15,495; next drive is May 8

The Racine County Food Bank reported the results of two recent hunger-fighting events, and details of one coming up in May.

The next food collection will be held on Saturday, May 8, by postal carriers. The National Association of Letter Carriers' “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive involves letter carriers delivering a bag to mailboxes during the first week of May. To donate, simply fill the bag and place it by your mailbox before your letter carrier arrives on May 8 and they will deliver it to the Food Bank.

Dan Taivalkoski, executive director of the Food Bank, announced at an after-party at George's Tavern that the 18th Annual Thoughts for Food in March raised $15,495. Along with the cash, 3,628 pounds of food was also collected. “In light of the current economic conditions, I’d say the event was a huge success” said Taivalkoski.

The Boy Scouts, “Scouting for Food” food drive on March 27 collected 19,093 pounds of food. While that total was down 28% from last year’s total, Taivalkoski said, “19,000 pounds of food is a significant donation and will certainly help to stretch our food budget.”

Letter carriers collect 70,000 pounds of donations for Food Bank

Local letter carriers collected 70,000 pounds of food donations on Saturday.
All of the donations went to the Racine County Food Bank.

Here's some good news from the Racine County Food Bank. Local letter carriers' 17th annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive raise more than 70,000 pounds of donations for local food pantries.

The total poundage was down from last year, but targeted donations increased the overall value of this year's collection, according to a press release from the Food Bank.

Here's the summary of the food drive:

On Saturday, May 9th, local Letter Carriers and the Letter Carriers Auxiliary banded together with the Postmaster, Station Supervisors and many volunteers to collect 70,084 pounds of food for the Racine County Food Bank during the 17th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.

The “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive is the largest of the year and provides the Food Bank with almost 10% of the food that they need to supply their affiliates for the entire year.

The total weight was down about 7% from the 75,644 pounds collected last year; however, because of the Food Bank’s emphasis on its “Super Six Most Needed Items” list, volunteers collecting and sorting food from the drive report that the majority of the donations seem to be of higher value this year.

Volunteers included individuals and families along with representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Racine Founders Rotary Club, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 767, the Racine Community Action Agency, Two Men and a Truck, Pro-Build, Pioneer Products, Schmidt Industrial Truck, Great Northern Corporation and American Express Business Travel. 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.