More than 100,000 pounds of food were collected across San Diego County during the 34th annual Letter Carrier’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive last weekend, organizers announced Tuesday.
The National Association of Letter Carriers and the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank collaborated on Saturday’s regional food drive. Residents across San Diego County donated bags of non-perishable food by their mailboxes and mail carriers collected the donations along their routes before delivering them to the food bank for distribution through its network of more than 450 nonprofit partners.
“We are incredibly grateful to the thousands of San Diegans who participated in this year’s Letter Carriers Food Drive to help stamp out hunger, and especially to our local letter carriers who work tirelessly each year to help make this effort possible,” said Casey Castillo, CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. “This food will help support children, families and seniors across our region during a time when many households are struggling.”
The NALC Food Drive is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. The annual effort comes at time when grocery costs continue to rise.
“As public servants, this is our way to not only take care of our customers but also give back,” said Ricardo Guzman, president of NALC Branch 70. “Nationally, we have been able to donate approximately 2 billion pounds of food over the last 34 years.”
Volunteers collected and sorted food across the county, including at post offices in Encanto, Grantville and Scripps Ranch as well as the food bank’s Miramar warehouse.