News & Events Links
News
Stamping Out Hunger locally
May 22, 2009
By Charlotte A. Graham, countyreporter@laurelleadercall.com
May 09, 2009 10:22 pm — Rural mail carrier Rachel Wilson added more than an hour to her work day on Saturday, but the Laurel Post Office employee didn’t show any signs of fatigue as she helped unload several pounds of food from her truck.
“It’s not tiring when you are doing something to help others,” she said, her face beaming with a broad smile. “This is important because there are so many people who are in need.”
Wilson and other mail carriers in Laurel, Ellisville and Waynesboro collected food on their routes as part of Jones County’s 15th Annual ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ food drive. Saturday’s food drive was done in conjunction with the National Association of Letter Carriers’ 17th annual food drive.
“This is my third year working with the food drive,” said Wilson. “I hope to be working with the food drive for many more years to come.”
Traditionally, the food drive is the largest one-day drive in the United States with more than 70 million pounds of food collected on average. Jones County collects an average of 40,000 pounds of food.
“We collected 22,000 tons of food last year,” said United Way Executive Director Barbara Johnson. “The food we collect is distributed between the Pine Belt Chapter of the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, and The Arc/Jones County, Inc.
“We’re really thankful for our mail carriers who do this out of the goodness of their heart,” said Johnson. “This food they have collected for us today will meet so many needs.”
Peggy Owens-Mansfield, executive director for the Pine Belt Chapter of the American Red Cross, also thanked the volunteers who trailed the mail carriers during their routes to provide assistance in collecting food and those who were on hand to sort the food as it came in.
“We had eight teams to follow the carriers,” explained Owens-Mansfield. “With all the volunteers we have sorting food, I guess you can say we’ve had a total of from 60 to 70 volunteers assisting us with this project.”
Many of the volunteers were teens who wanted to do something meaningful in the community. West Jones High School student Sara Kiparizoska, 15, said “I thought this would be a great way to help out in my community. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort.
“If we only had people to take one day out of their schedule to help someone in need, it would make a big difference in the world,” she added. “This is my first day and first year as a volunteer, but I plan on coming back.”
Johnson said the food drive wouldn’t be as successful as it has been without the help of volunteers and donations from the public. The food drive is done at this time of the year because it’s when most organization’s food pantries are running low in supplies.
“All of the Christmas donations we received have run out,” added Owens-Mansfield. “But the needs of the people never ends.”
Both Johnson and Owens-Mansfield said their agencies have seen an increase in people requesting assistance. “People are struggling,” said Johnson. “With the economy as slow as it is right now, among the top concerns of most people right now are food, utilities and medicine. Unfortunately, food is at the bottom of most of their list.”
“Especially the elderly,” asserted Owens-Mansfield. “Older people pay their bills and go without food if they don’t have the money. We don’t want them or anyone else to have to go without food.”
Although the ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ food drive was Saturday only, people can still donate food to the agencies. Johnson said they agencies will also help interested groups, organizations, churches and schools organize food drives of their own.
If interested, phone Barbara Johnson at 601-428-8454 or Peggy Owens-Mansfield at 601-426-9071.
Volunteers sort food at the American Red Cross headquarters Saturday. The food was collected by mail carriers as part of Jones County’s 15th Annual ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ food drive.
Get Involved
