“Stamp Out Hunger” food drive takes place Saturday

ABERDEEN, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Letter carries from areas such as Aberdeen, Sioux Falls and Rapid City will be collecting donations right from residents’ doorsteps to ‘stamp out’ hunger.

The National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual food drive is always held on the second Saturday of May, and it makes donating to a local food drive as simple as taking a trip to your mailbox.

”All you got to do is fill a bag full of food, non-perishable items, set it by your mailbox and your letter carrier will pick it up. Our main day is Saturday, but if you put it out today, Monday, Tuesday or whatever, we’ll still pick it up,” said U.S. Postal Service worker Dan Bruckner.

Donations can also be dropped off at the Aberdeen post office through next week.

The United Way of Northeastern South Dakota has gathered nearly a hundred volunteers to help collect the food with letter carriers on Saturday.

“The letter carriers do a fantastic job going door to door. They already have thousands of pounds worth of mail that they’re carrying each and every day, and now, we just tack this onto an already strenuous job, but they love doing it. They do it with a smile on their face,” said NESD United Way Director Aaron Schultz.

Last year, Aberdeen collected over 17,000 pounds of food during the event. This year, they hope to top that, which means a lot of heavy lifting.

“It’s worth it to help the food banks out, because they’re so low right now, and to get them into and, hopefully, through the summer to fill their shelves. It’s just a good cause,” said Bruckner.

Once the food is collected, it goes to a local food bank. In Aberdeen, the food is dispersed to the Salvation Army of Aberdeen and Journey Home.

”The volunteers and the letter carriers will do a lot of the heavy lifting over the next couple of days, but it’s truly our food pantries that will carry this into our community,” said Schultz.

For the postal workers that walk the streets of the Hub City every day, these deliveries are special.

”It’s just nice for us letter carriers to get involved. We see a lot of what goes on in the community. We can see the hunger and people that are hurting, and it’s just our way of giving back to the community and helping out. It amazes me how Aberdeen steps up. The community here, they’re wonderful, and I want to thank them all,” said Bruckner.

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