On Saturday, May 12, Campbell Soup Company will join forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Feeding America Southwest Virginia, Kroger, and Corrugated Containers to provide assistance to people in Southwest Virginia who are struggling to put food on their table. Other national sponsors include the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, Valpak, the AFL-CIO, United Way, and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage.

This year marks the twenty year anniversary of Stamp Out Hunger and it has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive. In 2011, 70.2 million pounds of food was collected across the country. The donated food provided 54 million meals to the hungry in America.

All of the food collected in Southwest Virginia stays in the area to help those locally. Last year 255, 385 meals were provided to the hungry. The success of the 2011 event is thanks to the generosity of Southwest Virginia residents and the dedication of the local letter carriers who pick up every pound donated.

“Emotions run high at the Food Bank as this special day approaches,” said Pamela Irvine, President & CEO of Feeding America Southwest Virginia. Over 377,000 people in Southwest Virginia are food insecure. We provided meals to 122,000 people per month, but more needs to be done to reach the remaining 257,000 food insecure people. We’re always excited to see tens of thousands of those Kroger bags lined up and down the streets filled with food for the hungry.”

NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said the 300,000-member union was “incredibly proud of the partnership with Campbell Soup Company to support the Stamp Out Hunger food drive that has helped so many millions of families over the years.

“As letter carriers, we see people on our routes six days a week that must rely on the generosity and assistance of others to help provide something as basic as a meal. We’re proud to have established a program that truly provides assistance in every community across the country,” said Rolando.

In addition to producing more than 90 million postcards to be delivered to homes across America to remind everyone to participate in the drive, Campbell will again donate one pound of food (up to one million pounds) to the Feeding America food bank network for every person who joins the Stamp Out Hunger Cause on Facebook. Americans can trigger a donation by visiting www.Facebook.com/StampOutHunger.

Locally, Kroger has stepped forward once again to provide 225,000 collection bags that residents will find in their boxes on Thursday, May 10 or Friday, May 11. Providing thousands of residents with this donation tool is essential to the success of local efforts on May 12! Also, Corrugated Containers has donated collection boxes.

PARTICIPATION

To participate in the Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Southwest Virginia this year, leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable food items, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned fish or meats, pasta, rice or cereal next to your mailbox prior to their regular mail delivery time on Saturday, May 12. The region’sactive letter carriers, along with rural letter carriers, will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them tolocal post offices, where Feeding America Southwest Virginia volunteers will sort the food before it is brought to distribution centers in Salem and Abingdon.

For more information about the Stamp Out Hunger food drive ask a letter carrier, contact Feeding America Southwest Virginia, a local post office, or visit www.helpstampouthunger.com, www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, or www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.

Submitted by Feeding America Southwest Virginia

The Salem-Roanoke County Food Pantry needs volunteers for this Saturday’s food drive at the Salem Civic Center, especially from 2 to 5 p.m., to help sort the cans of food the postal service carriers bring in. Click here for more details.