Ottawa, Streator mail carriers to collect food donations in Stamp Out Hunger campaign

When the second Saturday of May rolls around each year, Ottawa and Streator mail carriers do more than deliver the mail. They also collect donations for local food pantries.

The annual Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive will return Saturday, May 11. U.S. Postal Service officials in Ottawa and Streator are asking the community to assist in the program. Residents can participate by leaving nonperishable food donations in a bag beside their mailbox. Mail carriers will collect donations when delivering mail or return with a vehicle to pick up donations too large to carry.

Donations from Ottawa residents will be delivered to the Community Food Basket of Ottawa, while Streator residents’ donations will go to the Streatorland Community Food Pantry.

More than 12,700 La Salle County residents face food insecurity, according to the Community Food Basket website. Nationwide, more than 44 million citizens are uncertain where they will find their next meal, according to a news release from the Streator post office.

“Our food drive’s timing is crucial,” Streator post office mail carriers wrote in a letter to Shaw Media. “Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of their donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.”

Nationwide, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1.9 billion pounds of food in its 30-year history, according to the release.