An annual food drive taking place this weekend will benefit food pantries and food banks across the country, including here in the Lehigh Valley.
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania said the National Association of Letter Carriers will be conducting its annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this Saturday, May 13.
According to a release, the effort is the country’s largest one-day food drive, as 200,000 letter carriers across the United States collect donations that residents leave near their mailboxes.
In the Lehigh Valley, letter carriers will be collecting in the Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton areas.
People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag, or bags, containing unexpired, non-perishable food items such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice, or cereal before their regular mail delivery on May 13.
Carriers will collect the donations that day as they work their postal routes, and deliver them to local food banks and Second Harvest.
The release said food donations stay in the community where they are collected to help local residents.
According to Second Harvest, the timing of the drive is important due to the increasing price of food, the need in the community, and the approaching summer season when most school meal programs are suspended.
The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive was first held in 1993, and has collected over 1 billion pounds of food as of 2010.
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania serves over 200 agencies in a six-county area – Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne counties.
The organization distributed nearly 11 million pounds of food during its 2021-2022 program year, according to its website.
Second Harvest says an estimated 34 million Americans experience food insecurity each year.
(Original air-date: 5/11/23)
