Postal patrons donate 308 meals

RANGELY I Once again, postal customers in Rangely and Dinosaur were very generous in giving to the annual letter carriers’ food drive on May 8. Residents donated more than 400 pounds of food. That food will provide an estimated 308 meals to support the needy and the hungry.
All the food collected goes to local community food banks which, in turn, provide the food to area organizations and programs serving hungry children, the elderly, families and the disadvantaged throughout the year. Each 1.3 pounds of donated food equates to one meal for the hungry, according to food bank officials.
“Our community and postal customers really delivered to help stamp out hunger,” said Milly Chandler, Dinosaur postmaster.
“All that food will help out those who most need it. And with many people still hurting with the tough economy, thanks to you they will not go hungry.
“We thank our community and postal customers for their giving, and our letter carriers and volunteers who worked so hard to make the drive a huge success.”
This was the 18th year of the one-day National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive across America. With this year’s total nationwide still being counted, more than one billion pounds of food have been given to feed America’s hungry since the postal food drive first started in 1993. Rangely and Dinosaur were two of more than 10,000 communities and post offices nationwide participating this year.
It’s estimated that the letter carrier’s food drive again collected more than 70 million pounds nationwide to support America’s hungry this year.