TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – The 27th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), was held over the weekend. The drive was in conjunction with nationwide corporate sponsors to benefit local food pantries throughout the country. In Poughkeepsie, the food pantry at Dutchess Outreach was one of the beneficiaries.
John Speziale, Shop Steward for NALC Branch 137 said members are “very proud” to participate every year.
“It’s something we feel good about and it stays local and we feel it’s a good thing and guys don’t mind throwing in a couple of extra hours in soliciting it and whatever,” Speziale said.
“We are always glad to partner with the letter carriers to fight hunger,” said Tara Whalen, associate director of Dutchess Outreach. “These men and women deliver mail and come back with thousands of pounds on non-perishable food items. We’re thankful for both their efforts and the generosity of the customers along their routes.”
“Too many people are going hungry,” said NALC President Frederic Rolando in a prepared statement. “We know this to be true because we see it as we deliver to every address in the United States at least six days a week.”
Letter carriers deliver postcards to the customers on their routes in advance of the food drive which is held on the second Saturday in May every year. The postcards ask customers to leave food donations by their mailboxes on the given date so the carrier can pick it up. Carriers like Jim Bomba delivered mail on Saturday and was overwhelmed at the generosity of the donations made by his customers along Vassar Road in the town. When he returned to the Manchester Road facility, his truck was loaded with donations. “I tried to thank each customer with a wave and a honk of the horn,” said Bomba as he put the food crates up on the dock.
As carriers returned to the dock, volunteers were on hand to package the food for transport to the Dutchess Outreach pantry in Poughkeepsie. Volunteers were organized by Nyhisha Gibbs, volunteer coordinator for Dutchess Outreach. Gibbs also had a group of volunteers at the pantry to sort the food when it arrived there.
