Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s most extensive one-day food collection campaign, which took place on Saturday, May 13, 2023, collected 360,000 pounds of food donated by generous Long Islanders who left food by their mailboxes, according to Island Harvest Food Bank, the beneficiary of the local donations.
The food collected will help replenish the shelves of community-based feeding programs across Long Island served by Island Harvest.
Presented by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service, Stamp Out Hunger occurs on the second Saturday in May and has collected more than 1.75 billion pounds of food in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands since it began in 1993.
In addition to the 360,000 pounds collected, representing 300,000 meals, thanks to $122,000 in financial contributions, the total meals supplemented by Stamp Out Hunger on Long Island totaled 544,000.
“We are grateful to our neighbors who participated in Stamp Out Hunger,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest. “We are also thankful to the men and women who deliver our mail for their hard work and dedication to helping us ensure that no one goes hungry on Long Island.”
The food collected was delivered to a warehouse in Bethpage donated by Steel Equities, where an army of volunteers received, sorted, and repacked the food for distribution to help provide supplemental food support for approximately 300000 Long Islanders who face food insecurity.
“Our corps of volunteers deserve a huge shout-out for their efforts in helping us with this massive sorting project,” added Shubin Dresner, who noted that 450 volunteers contributed more than 1,800 hours of service.
“The Executive Board of NALC Branch 6000 would like to thank all the letter carriers on Long Island and all the other labor unions that participated in this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive,” said Tom Siesto, 1st vice president, NALC Branch 6000. “I would like to thank all of the Long Islanders who provided the donations for their fellow Long Islanders! Thanks to your participation we helped raise 360,000 pounds of food that Island Harvest will distribute to local communities on Long Island.”
Dresner also thanked this year’s major sponsors of Stamp Out Hunger, which included National Grid, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Amazon, Allstate, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Catholic Health, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving, Nonna’s Garden, Long Island Federation of Labor, MCN Distributors, Dime Community Bank and New York Community Bank.