Postal workers will be collecting and distributing more than mail on Saturday, May 11, as the day marks the 27th anniversary of the National Association of Letter Carriers' "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive. The event coincides with Mother’s Day weekend each year.
The week of the event, Pine Belt residents will receive brown grocery bags in their mailboxes with the message that they can "Fill a Bag. Help Feed Families.” Food collected in these bags stays local and will be distributed among local feeding agencies Christian Services, Edwards Street Fellowship Center, Petal Children's Task Force, and Salvation Army. All of the food donated stays in the local communities.
Hattiesburg-area residents are asked to fill their bag with nonperishable food and leave the bag by their mailbox on Saturday morning. Their letter carrier will pick up the bag and return it to the post office, where the food will then be distributed to the various feeding agencies.
U.S. Postal Service employee Dana Jackson, the local coordinator of this year's Stamp Out Hunger food drive, hopes Pine Belt residents will top 2018’s record-setting amount of food donations. Last year’s event brought in more than 93,000 pounds of nonperishable food for hungry neighbors. Jackson hopes the return of the brown grocery bags, which are being provided by Community Bank for the third consecutive year, makes it easier for local residents to donate food items to this event. According to Todd Bradley, Community Bank senior vice president, 50,000 bags are distributed in Hattiesburg, Petal and Columbia.
Food collection bins will be available in the post office lobbies in downtown Hattiesburg, on 40th Avenue, and in Petal for those who receive their mail in a post office box or drawer.
Throughout the day, Community Bank will also have officers and staff helping with the drive.
“We help the postal worker’s unload food from their trucks and then transport the food to the local agencies,” Bradley said. “Banks have a responsibility to support their communities. At Community Bank, we understand this responsibility and we take it very seriously. Each employee in the Hattiesburg market gets a volunteer day on which he or she can take a paid work day to volunteer at either Edwards Street Fellowship or Christian Services.”
Mayor Toby Barker will issue a proclamation for Stamp Out Hunger on the steps of the downtown Hattiesburg post office at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 7.
Demaris Lee, director of The Petal Children’s Task Force, said the organization benefits greatly from the food drive each year.
“Last year we received more than 17,000 pounds of food,” said Lee, which was great at the beginning of the summer when we provide boxes for the summer when children are out of school. “We appreciate everyone donating food and ask that on May 11 they donate again.
Lee said the task force is in need of peanut butter, jelly, sweet peas, fruit cups, veggies, rice and anything non-perishable, but will accept any non-perishable food items.
“We appreciate people putting food out by their mailbox and supporting the efforts of the Petal Children’s Task Force.”
For the Edwards Street Fellowship, Stamp Out Hunger is a huge boost for its food pantry each May.
“During this time of year, people are understandably focusing on graduations, recitals, weddings, and summer vacation plans,” said Ann McCullen, executive director. “No one intends to forget about hungry neighbors; they just need a little reminder. The brown grocery bags that Community Bank supplies for this food drive make it easy for people to leave food by their mailbox for their letter carrier to pick up.”
Last year, Edwards Street Fellowship Center's food pantry received more than 24,000 pounds of food through the Stamp Out Hunger day.
“That’s just incredible and covers about three weeks of food supply for our pantry,” McCullen said. The most needed items are canned veggies, canned fruit, canned soup, pasta, dried beans, peanut butter, cereal and canned meats. She said a special bonus is non-perishable foods that are low in sodium and sugar, but avoid anything in a glass container.
“We are thankful for everyone who donates to Stamp Out Hunger, and to the hard-working letter carriers who handle extra special deliveries on this day each year. The slogan for the event really says it all, "Fill a Bag. Help Feed Families."
