DP Editorial

June 7, 2009

Area food pantry thankful for letter carriers’ drive

DEAR EDITOR:

On Saturday, May 9th, the 17th Annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ “Stamp-Out Hunger” food drive was held nationwide.

More than 1400 local post offices in all 50 states, including both the Dallas and Shavertown branches, participated in collecting non-perishable food to be distributed to food banks, pantries and shelters in their respective areas.

Thanks to the extreme generosity of the residents in the communities served by these two local post offices, the diligent work of the Back Mountain USPS letter carriers and post office personnel, the CEO/Weinberg Food Bank for transporting the donations from the post offices to our Trucksville facility and the 60+ volunteers who helped receive, sort and shelve the food, the Back Mountain Food Pantry received over 8,500 lbs of badly-needed food that Saturday.

On behalf of the Back Mountain Food Pantry then, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed in any way to this extraordinarily beneficial drive - from those thoughtful individuals and families who took the time to pack and donate a bag or two of food to the many selfless volunteers who participated in handling those donations, I wish to recognize and commend the generosity, work and commitment of all involved.

As we near the mid-way point of the year, our food pantry is, as is every other nationwide, experiencing an unprecedented number of calls for assistance. Our friends and neighbors – perhaps people reading these very words- are struggling, struggling to make ends meet and to put food on their tables.

In 1970, then U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm said, “Most Americans have never seen the hunger, sickness and futility in which many other Americans live. Until a problem reaches their doorsteps, they’re not going to understand.”

The problem, the problem of families unable to meet their most basic daily nutritional needs, has reached our Back Mountain doorsteps. Thank you, Back Mountain, for your continued, generous and gracious response to it.

Mark Stull

Director

Back Mountain Food Pantry

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