On Saturday, letter carriers in the Dallas area and in more than 10,000 cities and towns nationwide will collect nonperishable food donations left beside mailboxes and in post offices. Donations will be delivered to local community food banks, pantries and shelters.
The 15th annual 'Stamp Out Hunger' food drive, locally sponsored by Kroger Food Stores and conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers, encourages residents to donate nonperishable food items.
The year's goal is to collect a million pounds of food in the Dallas area, said Willie Russell, customer relations coordinator for the Postal Service.
"I understand that hunger is real and everybody is not as prosperous as we'd like to think. That's not how it should be in America," Mr. Russell said. "That's why we are asking people to collect food across the area."
Last year, the letter carriers' campaign provided 89,438 pounds of food to the North Texas Food Bank. That number translates to more than 69,800 meals.
In addition, Dallas residents gave 145,497 pounds of food that was distributed to the food bank, shelters and food pantries. The Dallas postal district, which includes Allen, Canton, Duncanville and other suburbs, collected 745,793 pounds of food.
Gary Huddleston, director of consumer affairs for Kroger Food Stores, said this is the third year his company is participating in the event. The company is providing food, truck support to haul collected nonperishable items and paper bags for mail carriers to deliver to every mailbox across North Texas.
"We certainly want to be a part of the communities that we serve in," he said. "Any way we can stamp out hunger, we are willing to do it.
