Helping to feed the hungry in our community is a simple thing to do Saturday.
Take a bag, your choice of plastic or paper, to your cupboard and put some canned goods and perhaps a jar of peanut butter in it and place it next to your mailbox before the mail arrives.
Your letter carrier will do the rest.
Saturday is the 19th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive to “Stamp Out Hunger.”
It’s the largest food drive in the United States and the 990 members of San Jose Branch 193 of the organization are gearing up to do their part.
Laurie Duarte, president of Branch 193, says San Jose carriers are hoping to hit the 400,000 pounds mark in collections this year. In 2010 they picked up 391,654 pounds and in 2009 it was 277,272 pounds, so they are on track.
The carriers will pick up the donations as they deliver mail and bring it back to their stations, where it will be sorted and taken to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara County.
Many of the carriers cut their lunch breaks short or skip them entirely to make up for the extra time involved in picking up the food donations.
While the food drive is a national effort, it’s particularly important to San Jose carriers, who participated as one of 10 cities in the United States in the pilot program in 1991.
The late Tony Cortese, president of Branch 193 for 27 years, participated in that drive and worked on all the ones that followed until his death in 2007.
Locally, carriers call it the Tony Cortese Food Drive, and in March of this year, the Westgate Post Office was renamed the Anthony J. Cortese Post Office in his honor. US Reps. Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren introduced the bill authorizing the name change.
Michelle Berg, community relations and events coordinator for Second Harvest, says the timing of the drive is particularly important.
“We are about to enter the season of childhood hunger,” Berg says.
“Summer is a time of great need for the Food Bank because all of the students who receive free or reduced cost meals in school won’t have access to that source of nutrition for two to three months.
“We try to provide healthy food in June, July and August to assure all the kids in our community have access to healthy meals.
“The food from the letter carriers’ drive helps us to achieve that.”
Second Harvest is currently serving 247,000 people a month, up from 233,000 a year ago.
About two-thirds of clients are families with children, Berg says, adding that another 12 percent are seniors.
“We’re seeing a higher percentage of people who have never needed assistance before–a lot of people with professional and college degrees,” she says.
“These people are navigating the system for the first time and just never thought they’d be in the position of needing food assistance.”
While all donations are appreciated, the most needed basics are meals in a can such as stews, chili and soup; tuna and canned meat; peanut butter; canned foods with pop-top lids, low-sugar cereals, 100 percent fruit juices in single serving boxes; canned fruit packed in juice and low-salt canned vegetables.
Donors most interested in helping children are asked for single-serving raisins, graham crackers, unsweetened applesauce, cheese and crackers, 100 percent fruit rolls, low-sugar cereal bowls, pretzels and granola bars without peanuts.
Berg says the NALC drive helps Second Harvest give clients what they’re asking for, such as meals in a can, peanut butter and canned tuna.
“We can’t afford to buy meals in a can when we’re purchasing,” she says.
