Postal Service helps local food bank stamp out hunger

The United States Postal Service handled a very special delivery for the community when the National Association of Letter Carriers labor union held its Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on May 13.

The event, held across the country, benefited All Faiths Food Bank in the Sarasota area.

Letter carriers collected bags of nonperishable food donations, left beside mailboxes by residents, during their regular mail routes, with food bank staff gathering at post office sites to sort and transport the donations.

Rachel Bradley, director of philanthropy at the food bank, said the opportunity makes it easy for everyone in the community to participate in a food drive.

“We're grateful for this opportunity, because the timing couldn't be more perfect to be able to do a mass collection of this type,” she said. Bradley said the collections would benefit recovery efforts from the hurricane and pandemic, help with cost-of-living spikes, and help prevent childhood hunger during the summertime.

The food bank is still sorting the donations, but as of Monday, more than 35,000 pounds of food had been counted, according to Elodie Ward, director of communications.

Bradley said last year, the food bank was able to collect 80,000 pounds of food during the drive.