Utah Food Bank Hopes to Collect 600,000 Meals During
Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
National Food Drive Marks 22nd Anniversary on Saturday, May 10th
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - APRIL 28, 2014 - Letter carriers and hunger have one thing in common: neither is affected by the season, which is why on Saturday, May 10 letter carriers will collect food to help people facing hunger this summer. The 22nd annual Stamp out Hunger Food Drive is sponsored nationally by the National Association of Letter Carriers, in conjunction with the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association and United States Postal Service.
Utah Food Bank asks the public to help "Stamp Out Hunger" on Saturday, May 10 by placing bags of non-perishable food donations next to their mailbox by 9am for pickup by their local letter carrier. Donations from the community will go to Utah Food Bank and their statewide network of 130 emergency food pantries and agencies. All donations will be distributed to food pantries in your local area. Most needed food items include beef stew, chili, peanut butter, boxed meals, canned meats, and canned fruits and vegetables.
"1 in 5 Utah kids risk missing a meal today due to lack of resources, and 472,000 Utahns are unsure where their next meal will come from," said Ginette Bott, Utah Food Bank chief development officer. "The donations received as a result of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive come at a crucial time as school gets out and many kids are left without access to school meal programs."
In Utah and across the nation, this food drive has emerged as one of the largest single-day food drives. Last year Utah Food Bank collected over 650,000 pounds of food throughout the state, enough to provide over 545,000 meals for Utahns who are food insecure. Nationally, the food drive collected more than 74 million pounds of food last year.
Utah Food Bank provides food to a statewide network of 130 emergency food pantries and agencies. Last fiscal year, Utah Food Bank distributed 36.3 million pounds of food and goods, the equivalent of approximately 28.4 million meals for families and individuals in need. Utah Food Bank also served over 202,000 Kids Cafe meals, delivered more than 41,000 food boxes and filled more than 69,000 kids' backpacks for weekends and school holidays. For more information about Utah Food Bank, visit www.utahfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UtahFoodBank and Twitter at www.twitter.com/UtahFoodBank.
