This weekend, Saturday to be exact, is the annual 12th Annual Food Drive for Postal Service Letter Carriers. This collection effort is spearheaded by the NALC, the letter carrier union, with the help of the Rural Carrier Association, other employees, Postal management, the Campbell Soup Company and America's Second Harvest.
New to sponsorship this year is Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, the nationwide direct mail advertising firm who is providing promotions for the drive.
Customers are asked to leave non-perishable food items by their mail boxes on Saturday morning and as carriers make their rounds they will collect those donations and at the end of the day they are sorted and taken to local food banks.
In our town the collected items will go to Interfaith Emergency Services, a non-profit organization that helps those in need with food, shelter, clothing and job training.
If everyone participates a lot can be accomplished. Last year 61.7 million pounds of food was collected nationally. Though I don't have the exact figures, locally in Ocala we, our customers, donated about 10 tons of much needed food supplies.
Take time, check your pantry and if you don't see something there to donate go to your grocery. Donate what you would like to have if you were in need, not just those things you have but don't want anymore.
In the words of Jesus, "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me."(MSG)

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