Posted on: Thursday, May 8, 2003

Letter carriers seek help in food drive

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

It's that time of year when letter carriers are hoping island residents will deliver.

On Saturday, mail carriers in Hawai'i will participate in the 11th National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive to stamp out hunger. Carriers on 750 routes will be gathering non-perishable goods to benefit the Hawai'i Food Bank and other social agencies.

Residents should be receiving a card in the mail this week to announce the drive.

People are asked to leave canned goods near their mailboxes for collection by carriers.

Last year, more than 265,000 pounds of food were collected on O'ahu, compared with 210,000 pounds in 2001. Statewide, the one-day drive brought in a record 319,000 pounds in 2002.

Brett Schlemmer, Hawai'i Food Bank director of operations, said last year's total was "an incredible amount of food for one afternoon."

"The quality and variety of nutrition that is supplied really helps us out a great deal," Schlemmer said. "This quarter-million pounds of canned goods will really provide a great deal of our core nutrition for about five months."

The Food Bank sorts and inspects the goods and disperses them to about 600 social agencies. Schlemmer said about 118,000 people receive food each week and about 37 percent of them are children.

He said any type of canned goods are welcome, but peanut butter is always in short supply.

One of the most popular items left by residents each year is Spam.

"It's a bit on the high-salt side, but it really means a lot to a lot of people," Schlemmer said.