Stamp Out Hunger is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Since 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers has collected millions of pounds of non-perishable foods for local food banks on the second Saturday of May. When the pandemic hit, and lockdowns followed, the event was postponed. But on May 14th, the event returned. And volunteers were ready to go.
With 14 post offices across Puget Sound, more than 140 Food Lifeline volunteers rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Putting in a combined 500 hours of service, the volunteers spent the day unloading bagged donations from mail vehicles, onto Food Lifeline semi-trucks.
“We have volunteers who have been giving their time to this event for several years”, says Renee DeRosier, Food Lifeline’s Volunteer Engagement Director. “And even after the event having been canceled for two years, they were right back here.”
Corporate volunteer teams play a large part in Stamp Out Hunger, and this year was no different. The largest team was put together by this year’s event sponsor, Instacart. The online grocery delivery service brought team members from Oakland, California just for the event.
“It was an incredible day”, says Instacart Senior Policy Communications Manager, Andrea Koskey. “Our
team was amazed at how thoughtful and generous the donations were.”
The food collected for Stamp Out Hunger will help stock the shelves of Food Lifeline’s more than 350 food banks, shelters, and meal programs across Western Washington.
A huge thank you to all the hands and hearts that make events like this possible!
If you would like to volunteer with food Lifeline, visit www.foodlifeline.org/volunteer
