Donations of food are welcome and volunteering at local collection sites is encouraged.
Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest one-day food collection effort and is hosted by the National Association of Letter Carriers, in partnership with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Last year, 114,196 pounds of food were collected, enough to provide more than 95,163 meals.
Volunteers are needed to help the food bank collect and sort food at post office in Harrisonburg, Staunton, Lynchburg, Waynesboro and Charlottesville. Shifts will run between 1 and 8:30 p.m. on May 13, depending on each location’s needs. Staunton volunteers are needed at the post office at 1430 N. Augusta Street, Staunton.
Donations of non-perishable food items may be left at mailboxes early on the morning of May 13 for postal carriers to collect. The most needed items are canned fruits, meats, vegetables low in sodium and sugar. Paper products, diapers and personal care items are also welcome.
“Seeing community members come together to volunteer, donate food, and help people living with hunger is a wonderful reminder of the collaboration that goes into ensuring everyone has enough food to eat,” McKee, CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, said. “This year’s event comes at a critical time. Rising food costs, the recent end of emergency SNAP benefits, and the decline in overall donations to the Food Bank are contributing to the need to refill our shelves for the upcoming summer months when school-based nutrition resources won’t be available.”
Food Bank partner and program sites served 14 percent more guests in the second half of 2022. Inflation increased by 11.4 percent in 2022 and is projected to climb another 7.5 percent in 2023.
Since collecting totals from Stamp Out Hunger, letter carriers have collected 2,366,411 pounds of food, helping provide almost 2 million meals to people in the area who experience food insecurity.
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Rebecca Barnabi
