Stamp Out Hunger returns, seeking food donations

Island Harvest Food Bank is joining forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service to once again Stamp Out Hunger this Saturday, May 13. Postal workers will collect food across Nassau and Suffolk counties, looking to provide muchneeded supplemental food support to more than 300,000 people facing hunger — a third of them children.

“Participating in Stamp Out Hunger is easy,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and chief executive of Island Harvest, in a release. “Generous Long Islanders are encouraged to leave nonperishable food items in a bag next to their mailbox before the regularly scheduled mail deliver on Saturday, May 13. Then, your USPS letter carrier will do the rest to help make sure that no one on Long Island goes hungry.”

Those non-perishable food items can include canned goods, cereal, pasta, rice, boxed juices, and shelf-stable milk. You should not include any food or juices in glass containers.

Also needed are personal care items like toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant and disposable diapers.

Everything donated on Long Island will help replenish Island Harvest’s network of food pantries and soup kitchens as well as emergency feeding programs in communities throughout Long Island.

“Every donation — no matter how small — helps our neighbors who are in the unenviable position of choosing between paying for such things as housing, transportation and medicine, or putting food on the table,” Shubin Dresner said. “I am confident that the past generosity displayed by our Long

Island neighbors will help make this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive one of the most successful.”

Since its inception in 1993, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1.75 billion pounds of food in all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin

Islands.

On Long Island alone, Stamp Out Hunger has brought in more than 519,000 pounds of food in 2019, before the event was suspended the last three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Stamp Out Hunger’s national spokesman is Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos.

“The National Association of Letter Carriers, and the men and women we represent on Long Island, are pleased to once again partner with Island Harvest in this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food collection,” said Tom Siesto, first vice president for NALC Branch 6000. “Our carriers often see firsthand the pervasive issue of hunger as part of their daily rounds, and they are eager to help give back to the community, and assist in helping Island Harvest Food Bank tackle this important issue.”

This year’s major sponsoring partners with Island Harvest include National Grid, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Amazon, Allstate, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Catholic Health, Nonna’s Garden, Long Island Federation of Labor, MCN Distributors, Dime Community Bank, and New York Community Bank.

All donations to Stamp Out Hunger are tax-deductible since all food collected benefits Island Harvest, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

To learn more, visit IslandHarvest. org/stamp-out-hunger.