Letter Carriers Food Drive Exceeds Goal
May 24, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY - On May 8, metro area letter carriers helped stamp out hunger by collecting 382,555 pounds of food from residents on their mail routes, which will provide 294,273 meals to hungry Oklahomans.
“Our food pantry had gotten very low in inventory the last couple of months because new clients sign up each week, on top of serving the normal group as well,” said one of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s partner agencies. “The Letter Carriers Food Drive came at a perfect time for us. We were able to receive more than a ton of food to help get us through the summer months, when there are greater needs because of the children being home from school. Both the postal office and our volunteers are very excited about this successful drive.”
While donations are still coming in, nearly 820,000 pounds of food have been collected to date. The goal of the food drive was to collect 700,000 pounds of food.
Volunteers are now needed at the Regional Food Bank and in local pantries to help pack and sort the donated food. To volunteer, contact Jamie Treadaway at 405.600.3154 or e-mail jtreadaway@regionalfoodbank.org.
“I want to thank the letter carriers and everyone who made a donation to help fight hunger in Oklahoma,” said Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. “Because of your support, the Food Bank and its partner agencies will have more food available to help the hungry in your community.”
Letter carriers in 59 cities in 32 counties contributed to the effort. Participating counties included: Beckham, Blaine, Bryan , Canadian, Carter , Cleveland, Comanche, Custer, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Greer, Hughes, Jackson, Kay, Kiowa, Lincoln, Logan, Major, McClain, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Payne, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Seminole, Stephens, Tillman, Washita and Woodward.
The Feeding Hope and Letter Carriers Food Drive is sponsored by: Executive Sponsors - Devon Energy Corporation and Chesapeake Energy Corporation; AFL CIO; American Fidelity Assurance Company; Associated Wholesale Grocers (Homeland and United Supermarkets): BancFirst; Bank of America; Campbell’s; Express Employment Professionals; Feeding America; First United Bank; Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores; MidFirst Bank; National Association of Letter Carriers; the National Rural Letter Carriers Association; News 9; Oklahoma City Firefighters IAFF Local # 157; OGE Energy Corp.; The Oklahoman; Renda Broadcasting (Magic 104.1 KMGL; 92.5 KOMA);Tyler Broadcasting (Jake 93.3 FM, La Zeta 106.7 FM, and KKNG 97.3 FM); The Spy 105.3 FM; The United States Postal Service; United Way of Central Oklahoma; and ValPak.
For more information about the Feeding Hope and Letter Carriers Food Drive, or to make a donation, call Angie Gaines at 405.604.7109, email againes@regionalfoodbank.org, or visit regionalfoodbank.org.
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is a private, 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that acts as a link through which the food industry and community may donate food and other goods. The products are then distributed to nearly 700 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. In the last fiscal year, the Food Bank distributed 28.5 million pounds of food and product to help the charitable community effectively feed people in need. Since its inception in 1980, the Food Bank has distributed more than 351 million pounds of food to feed Oklahoma’s hungry.
###
