Donate to letter carriers food drive May 14

—Seventeen year “Stamp out Hunger” partnership has provided more than one billion pounds of food for people in need across the country—

Elgin, IL, (May 5, 2011): United Way of Elgin encourages community members to donate a sturdy bag of non-perishable items (canned foods, pasta, rice, cereal, etc.) to be collected by letter carriers as they deliver mail along their postal routes. The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive will take place on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Residents should set food next to their mailboxes prior to mail delivery.

Donated food will then be delivered to First United Methodist Church in downtown Elgin (216 E. Highland Ave), where volunteers will sort the food to be delivered to area pantries. If residents would like to volunteer to sort food, volunteers are needed on Saturday, May 14 for 2 hour shifts: 2-4 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. You can indicate interest to volunteer on our website at uwelgin.org/volunteer.

“Every day in Elgin, families are struggling to put food on the table. More families have to survive on tighter budgets that leave them unable to provide for this basic need. This food drive will help stock local pantries, which have experienced high demand the last several years. The drive continues to be an important source of food for our families,” said Elissa Kojzarek, Resource Development and Special Initiatives Manager at United Way of Elgin.

Each year, millions of Americans join the effort to help meet the needs of nearly 50 million Americans who live in families that lack sufficient food. One in seven adults and nearly one-quarter of all children who are hungry and not receiving the basic nutrition they need. Moving into the summer months, 22 million students are at risk of going hungry when the school year ends. For many children, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they eat.

“Stamp Out Hunger” is a national partnership between NALC, the U.S. Postal Service, United Way, the AFL-CIO, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, Campbell, Feeding America, Valpak, AARP and Uncle Bob's Self Storage. The nation's 230,000 active letter carriers will take the donations to local food banks, pantries and shelters.

If you would like more information, please call the United Way office at (847) 741-2259 or e-mail Elissa Kojzarek at ekojzarek@uwelgin.org.