23rd Annual ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Food Drive Is Saturday

The familiar plastic bags began arrive in our area on Monday signifying that the 23^rd annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is officially underway. 

What do you do with these bags? Well, this Saturday, May 9^th letter carriers across America will collect the bags they hope to find filled with canned and non-perishable food items and deliver them to local food banks and pantries.

To combat hunger, letter carriers collect donations on the second Saturday in May each year. These donations go directly to local food pantries to help the hungry throughout West Alabama.

Last year, letter carriers collected more than 72 million pounds of food nationally. In West Alabama, more than 64,000 pounds of food were collected (an increase of more than 14,000 pounds) and 10 pantries benefited from the donations including West Alabama Food Bank, Pickens County Baptist Association, Bibb County DHR, Salvation Army, Christian Center of Concern, Children of the Village Network, Matt Miller Food Pantry and local church food banks.

The need for food donation is great  Currently, millions of Americans are food insecure, many of those children. Feeding America has generated a food insecurity map showing data by county in each state. In Tuscaloosa County, there is a 17.5% food insecurity rate, affecting an estimated 34,530 people. Those rates are even higher in other West Alabama counties, such as Sumter with 27.7% of its population suffering from food insecurity.

Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. By spring, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.

United Way of West Alabama is asking that everyone who is able participate in this year’s Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive do so. It’s simple. Just leave a non-perishable food donation in a bag by your mailbox on Saturday, May 9^th and your letter carrier will do the rest.

Former Miss Tuscaloosa and current Miss Metropolitan Cassidy Jo Jacks stopped in to give us more information on this weekend's events and share some statistics.