N.M. STAMPING OUT HUNGER
Postal Service leads Stamp Out Hunger
U.S. Postal Service and thousands of local residents delivered 175,600 pounds of food as part of the 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger drive.
The U.S. Postal Service and thousands of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho residents delivered last Saturday, to the tune of 175,600 pounds of food as part of the 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger drive.
“It is truly amazing how the efforts of our community can impact our continued role to supply food to hundreds of partners throughout New Mexico for the benefit of our hungry neighbors,” said Melody Wattenbarger, president and CEO of Roadrunner Food Bank.
“Thank you to everyone who contributed food this Saturday! Your generosity will help us prepare for the busy summer months when hunger is at its highest,” she added.
The local and nationwide collection is billed as the largest single-day food drive in the country, according to a news release. This year’s drive beat out last year’s achievement of 142,000 pounds of food collected.
Anyone still interested in contributing to this year’s drive is welcome to bring nonperishable food to Roadrunner, their post office or to any year-round drop-off locations — find them at www.rrfb.org/dropoff.
Donations of fresh produce and frozen food should be brought directly to the food bank, officials said.
And anyone interested in volunteering is welcome as well. All the food collected and delivered to the food bank will require many additional volunteers to help sort and prepare it for distribution. Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to register online at www.rrfb.org/cervis.
Some 10,000 communities in all 50 states, the District of Colum-
bia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam participate in Stamp Out Hunger annually.
National partners with the Postal Service and letter carriers included the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Valpak, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, the AARP Foundation and Valassis.