Letter Carries Food Drive Coming Up Soon

While shopping over the next few weeks, be sure to pick up something extra if you are able.

The annual letter carriers food drive is marking its 25th year. Here’s a bit of the history of the food drive and ways you can help.

The 25^th annual Letter Carriers Food Drive will be collecting food for local food banks in Everett and across Snohomish County on Saturday, May 13^th.

In support of the Letter Carrier Food Drive, a white bag will be delivered in Snohomish County mailboxes the week of May 8^th.

Just place non-perishable food items in the bag or any bag on hand.  Then, on May 13^th, leave the filled bag in or next to your mailbox for a letter carrier to pick it up.

In Snohomish County, one in seven people are food insecure.  Feeding America shows that over 88,400 people in our County don’t have enough food for dinner tonight.

“The food collected every year from the Letter Carriers helps food banks throughout Snohomish County.   Like all food banks, the Everett Food Bank and our pop up pantries rely on the drive to have enough food for the summer when donations are low,” said Leann Christensen, Senior Director Hunger Prevention Services, of Volunteers of America Western Washington.

In 2016, 236,153 pounds of food were collected during the drive and provided 196,794 meals to people in need who visited one of our local food banks. Betty Welsh, Labor Engagement Manager, of United Way of Snohomish County sets a higher goal for this year saying, “Let’s collect 250,000 pounds of food to celebrate our 25^th anniversary.”

The Stamp Out Hunger Letter Carriers Food Drive was started in the early 1990’s to support hunger relief across the United States.  Letter Carriers partnered with local foodbanks in all 50 states.  Over the past 25 years, the Letter Carriers Food Drive have collected over 1.5 billion pounds of food.

The National Association of Letter Carriers has partnered with Volunteers of America Western Washington, United Way of Snohomish County, Branch 791 and the Snohomish County Labor Council to coordinate the drive to meet this need.

If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities or make online donations visit www.voaww.org for more information.