Give to the NALC Food Drive, this Saturday

Supporters hold press conference Friday

Key supporters of the NALC Food Drive in Dallas will hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m., this Friday, at the North Texas Bank, located at 4306 Schilling Way, in Dallas. Together, they will announce their commitment to support the annual NALC Food Drive, Saturday, May 9. Representatives from the Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, Campbell’s Soup Company, Kroger Food Stores and the North Texas Food Bank will join and participate in a major community-wide initiative.

“The NALC Food Drive is a national effort to Stamp Out Hunger!,” says Pat Williams, Dallas Postmaster. “For 17 years, this has served as the nation’s largest single food drive. Last year, the Postal Service collected just over 73 million pounds of food from postal customers. Here in the Dallas District, we gathered more than 942 thousand pounds in 2008. Over the last 16 years, the NALC has collected more than 909 million pounds nationwide, to replenish food banks across America.”

NALC Food Drive postcards and Kroger Bags will arrive in the mail this week. Put non-perishable items in the bag, place it next to the mailbox, and a carrier will collect it, when he or she delivers the mail. All contributions this year will again help people, right here at home, who have lost their jobs, and homes. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reflect that millions of people are making decisions between rent, utilities, medicine and the most basic necessity – food. Its annual study of hunger in America indicates the number of people living at the margins of hunger, struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, has increased from 35.1 million to more than 35.5 million.

Contributions you make on May 9 will help stock the North Texas Food Bank, local food pantries, and shelters that thousands of Texas families will rely on this summer. To learn more about the Stamp Out Hunger! effort in Dallas-Fort Worth, local residents should ask their letter carriers, contact their local post offices or visit www.helpstampouthunger.com.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.