The Stamp Out Hunger campaign organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers seeks to collect food every year on the second Saturday in May.
In Bluefield, WV letter carriers collected more than 13,000 pounds of food
David Kersey, a volunteer with the Christ Episcopal Church food bank jumped off the loading dock and started handing boxes of food up to Rocky Malamisura, a volunteer with the Sacred Heart Catholic Church food pantry.
“We’re all just volunteering here today,” Kersey said. “This is for the whole community.”
And indeed it was. Under the leadership of Jon Rash, the Bluefield members of the National Association of Letter Carriers brought in 13,213 pounds of food to benefit nine area food bank. In addition to Christ Episcopal and Sacred Heart, the donations went out to the Bluefield Union Mission, Bland Ministries, the Bluefield Salvation Army, the Mercer County Fellowship Home, the Center for Christian Action, Brushfork Baptist Church and the Faith Assembly Food Bank.
“We’re out delivering mail and picking up food at the same time, so it is a little more difficult, but this is the reward,” Rash said as volunteers filled trucks with food. Last year, without any advance promotion, carriers only brought in 980 pounds of food, but this year’s total eclipsed that mark and then some.
“I was really hoping that we would top the 15,000 pound mark this year,” Rash said. “That will give us something to work for next year.”