Hauppauge, NY - May 9, 2016 - This Saturday, May 14, 2016, is Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s largest single-day food drive. And to make it easier for Long Islanders to participate, the United States Postal Service has delivered more than 100,000 brown paper bags across Long Island to accommodate donations to this important event. The bags were made possible through the generous support of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 342.
Even if residents didn’t receive a bag in the mail, they are still encouraged to help Stamp Out Hunger by leaving donations of nonperishable food by their mailbox before their regularly scheduled mail delivery on Saturday, May 14.
For the past 24 years, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) have teamed up with food banks across the country on the second Saturday in May to help Stamp Out Hunger. Participation in the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is simple.
Residents are asked to leave nonperishable food items such as canned goods, pasta, rice, boxed juices and shelf-stable milk (please, no glass items) next to their mailboxes before regularly scheduled mail delivery on Saturday, May 14, 2016. The postal carriers will do the rest. Locally, all food donated will help replenish food supplies at Long Island’s food pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding programs served by Island Harvest Food Bank, leading hunger-relief organization.
About Hunger on Long Island
Hunger is a state in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for active and healthy lives. It can result from the recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food. More than 316,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger every day, according to Island Harvest and Feeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. Those facing hunger include adults (often working two jobs), seniors and veterans. Unable to make ends meet, they (and their children) are often forced to go without food. Approximately 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk counties each week through soup kitchens, food pantries and other feeding programs served by Island Harvest.
About Island Harvest Food Bank
Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its goal is to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans and others at risk. Approximately 94 cents of every dollar donated to Island Harvest goes to programs that support more than 316,000 Long Islanders. Island Harvest is a lead agency in the region’s emergency-response preparedness for food and product distribution, and is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization. More information can be found at www.islandharvest.org.