Stamp out hunger drive is Saturday
U.S. POST OFFICE

Rusk postal employees will join others from throughout the United States in collecting food for the needy during the annual food drive May 10. Letter carriers will again help "Stamp Out Hunger" across America with the nation's largest single-day food drive. They have collected more than 836 million pounds of food since the drive's inception. Locally Rusk collected more than 1,600 pounds last year and is slated to hit the 2,500 pound mark this year. All donations are delivered to the Rusk Cares Good Samaritan.

Supporting the USPS-National Association of Letter Carriers with the food drive again this year are Campbell Soup Co., America's Second Harvest--the Nation's Food Bank Network at the North Texas Food Bank, Valpak--Cox Target Media, the AFL-CIO and United Way of America. To help with the drive, participants are asked to leave a sturdy bag, containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal next to the mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery Saturday.

Local carriers will collect donations from homes across the city and deliver them to the Good Samaritan.

Hunger continues to be a vital concern in the U.S., said William H. Young, NALC president. "We see it in our everyday lives on many of the routes we carry every day. Yet with donations from our generous customers and partners like Campbell Soup Co., Kroger Foods and local food banks, who we've now been working with for more than 10 years, I know we can help a significant number of people fight the battle against hunger."

Postal carriers are a vital thread in every community throughout the U.S. "That is why our response to this socioeconomic need is so extremely important," said Ron Williams, Rusk postmaster. "Our goal this year is to collect more than 2,500 pounds and our carriers are committed to exceeding this goal to answer the call to stamp out hunger. We are counting on the community help us by filling up the sack on Saturday."

The drive is traditionally held in May to help families with the food to feed youngsters out of school for the summer. Family finances have dropped with the loss of employment and the high cost of purchasing gasoline to get back and forth to work.