TERRE HAUTE —
Cans and crates were still rolling in late Saturday afternoon as letter carriers put their stamp on hunger.
Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 479 were hauling in trucks full of donated food Saturday morning, making their delivery to the Terre Haute Catholic Charities Food Bank at North 14th and Locust streets. About 40 volunteers, including members of the Terre Haute South Vigo High School football team, joined in the effort.
Closer to 5 p.m., Tom Kuhl, director of the food bank, said the 20th Annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ food drive was on track to meet, or potentially exceed, last year’s mark of 67,000 pounds.
“With the weather being good and people being generous, I think we’re going to be really close to making our goal,” he said of the 70,000 pounds planners hoped would come in.
NALC members picked up bags of donated food at their postal customers’ homes from Sullivan to Clinton, Rockville to Brazil, as well as Vigo County. Drop-off locations were hosted by Baesler’s Market on Poplar Street and Kroger on Wabash Avenue.
Keith McElroy, past president of the union local and 12-year food drive coordinator, said the group will follow up next week and continue picking up bags.
Early Saturday morning, as he and others were busy at the food bank unloading bags of donations, McElroy said the project is one deeply embraced by the group.
“They’re excited,” he said of the volunteers and NALC members.
Nationally, the project has collected upwards of 700 million pounds of food in 20 years, he said, estimating the Wabash Valley’s share of that has been nearly 800,000 pounds.
According to information provided by Terre Haute Catholic Charities executive director John Etling, the food bank distributes about 2.6 million pounds of food per year locally to 86 member agencies in seven counties.
Michelle Koerner, a letter carrier now in her 14th year volunteering for the project, said she and other postal employees see the homes and children affected by food insecurity. While delivering their mail each day, it’s tough to miss the signs of poverty, she said after bringing in donations from the North 10th and 11th street neighborhoods.
Koerner walked the homes along those streets from Maple to Fort Harrison avenues that morning, “just to help the community out.”
By late afternoon, food was still coming in from outlying counties. Kuhl said more than 30,000 pounds were donated by Vigo County homes alone.
“It’s really strong right now,” he said, adding people can donate food any time during the year.
Residents with bags that didn’t get picked up Saturday can put them out Monday or Tuesday, or call the food bank at (812) 235-3424 to discuss pickup.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Nice day for a drive: Photo of a letter carrier's collection barrel at Baesler's Market on Saturday afternoon.
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Stamp: Volunteers unload a truck with groceries at the Catholic Charities Food Bank collected by postal employees at various locations around town.
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Postal delivery: A group of volunteers unloads a truck packed with groceries from the postal collection campaign at the Catholic Charities Food Bank on Saturday afternoon.
Discussion
Food bags, mail bags: On this Saturday, postal workers do much more than deliver letters
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