Letter carriers food drive this Saturday

On Saturday May 12, letter carriers across Lee County will collect food on their mail routes for the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Last year, the food drive yielded over 70 million pounds of food nationwide. Locally, 323,000 pounds of food was collected in Lee County alone. This food stays in our local communities to feed the hungry. Donations of non-perishable food items can be left by mail receptacles - please no glass or perishable food items!

The food collected will feed children who are out of school during the summer months. Without local food banks and agencies that assist low income families, these children would go hungry. The letter carrier food drive comes at a time of year when these agencies are running low on supplies.

In Southwest Florida, the majority of letter carriers are rural letter carriers who use private vehicles to deliver their mail routes. Since these vehicles are smaller than the red, white & blue delivery trucks city letter carriers use, the rural carriers struggle to collect food donated by their customers. Often there is no room in their vehicles for the food. Local residents can assist these rural letter carriers by collecting food in their neighborhood or volunteering to be available to offload carrier vehicles when they become too full. Anyone who is willing to help is asked to call Debi Mitchell at 573-9638. Volunteers are especially needed in the Cape Coral, South Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, East Fort Myers and Iona neighborhoods. Volunteers who drive their vehicles to collect food or off load carrier vehicles will receive a food drive shirt and a poster to display on their vehicle. This service to the community can be documented for the community service hours that high school students are required to complete for graduation.

Letter carriers are the heart and eyes of the community, driving through every neighborhood and up and down every street. They see first hand the need, and recognize the hardship and despair that denies many families even the basic necessities of life. An estimated 38 million people face hunger every day in America, including more than 9 million children. This drive is one way to help those right in our own city who need help.