Have you received a blue plastic bag in the mail this week?
Southeast Missouri residents are asked to fill these bags with non-perishable food and place it near their mailbox before 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 12. They’ll be picked up by letter carriers across Southeast Missouri as part of the 26th Annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. The nation’s largest one-day food drive, this event works to feed those who struggle to put food on the table.
Chief advancement officer for the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Joey Keys says the food drive has been successful in past years; over 20,000 pounds of food were collected during the event in 2017.
“That’s a really big amount of food that we were able to take and then distribute to our local pantries,” says Keys. “And the food stays in the area that it’s collected.”
According to a press release from the food bank, 1 in 4 children in Southeast Missouri go to bed hungry each night, and Missouri is rated the sixth highest state in the country in senior food insecurity.
Blue bags, donated by Isle Casino, were delivered throughout this week. If you have not received one, you can fill any grocery bag you already have on-hand.
Letter carriers will deliver the food to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank distribution center in Sikeston, or it will be picked up at post office locations.
Keys says this event couldn’t happen without help from postal workers.
“It’s a lot of extra work for them,” says Keys, “but it really is a good cause.”
For more information on the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive, visit: http://www.stampouthungerfooddrive.us/