Letters Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive fills local food banks

Yahoo

11-05-2025

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – From mailboxes to local food banks, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service are partnering in the fight to end hunger.
Volunteer letter carriers spent Saturday driving through neighborhoods from Graceville to Port St. Joe, making stops at houses with bags hanging on their mailboxes.
'As we see bags hanging on the mailbox or see bags on the ground, we stop and we pick them up and then eventually we'll take them to their destination,' Volunteer Food Collector Jeff Lange said.
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In those bags are non-perishable food donations from the local community.
Volunteers transport those donations to local food banks like the Panama City Rescue Mission men's facility and their women and children's facility.
'All the food that we pick up and the wonderful community donations all go back to our own people in our own community. So, eventually, we're just helping ourselves out or helping each other out the way a good neighborhood should,' Lange said.
Volunteers said the donations collected will help supply the food banks for a year, and the donations are coming at a time when the community needs it most.
'Typically, this time of year, most food banks are struggling for donations. So it's a real big help for all the perishable items between dog food, napkins, just everyday things that are essential for just survival of people,' Volunteer Food Collector Jared Jones said.
Volunteers will find out the total number of donations collected by next week. They say they are hoping for a record-breaking year.
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'We had a great year, one of the best years we've had since COVID last year. So we're hoping to surpass that this year and be able to help even more families,' Jones added.
If you missed this year's food drive, Panama City Rescue Mission is always accepting donations from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday. They are in urgent need of gallon bags, disinfectant spray, towels, underwear, and laundry detergent.
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