Ottawa County, MI (WGHN) – West Michigan residents are being asked to help fight hunger by participating in the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Saturday, May 9.
The event, recognized as the nation’s largest single-day food drive, brings together letter carriers and local communities to collect nonperishable food donations for area food pantries across Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan counties. Residents can take part by placing a bag of nonperishable food items near their mailbox before regular mail delivery on Saturday. Letter carriers will pick up the donations along their routes and deliver them to local food pantries.
Organizers say the drive comes at a critical time of year, as many food banks experience shortages during the spring and summer months while demand for assistance remains high.
The Grand Haven Tribune reports that over the past three decades, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1.94 billion pounds of food nationwide, including contributions from Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to organizers, more than 47 million Americans face food insecurity, including over 14 million children and roughly 7.4 million seniors. Locally, last year’s drive collected approximately 150,000 pounds of food to help stock pantries as students left school and access to school meal programs declined.
The effort is coordinated locally by the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 56 in partnership with Heart of West Michigan United Way.
Residents in Holland should note that their collection date has been moved to May 16 due to Tulip Time Festival festivities.
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