Tampa Bay letter carriers help families in need during annual food drive

Jennifer Kveglis
·2 min read
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TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Bay food pantries, letter carriers, and residents participated in the 31st annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

The event was led by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Since its inception in 1993, more than 10,000 cities across the country have taken part in the event. In total, 1.9 billion pounds of non-perishables have been collected for families throughout the summer months.

"This particular food drive is really important because during those summer months, children, they’re not in school. So if they’re not in school there’s one less meal that they’re typically getting," said Florida Senator and CEO of Hope Villages of America Food Pantry, Nick DiCeglie.

DiCeglie's food pantry, Hope Villages of America, collected for Pinellas County.

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"Pinellas County, we’re the most densely populated county in the state. Food insecurity is a big deal and these are folks that we go to church with, we work with," he said, "Our letter carriers across the country, they deliver plastic bags throughout the week. Folks are putting non-perishable food items into those bags; they’re leaving them by their mailbox today [Saturday]."

DiCeglie and the pantry's more than 75 volunteers aimed to collect 100,000 pounds of non-perishables on Saturday.

"You can tell the lines going into the food bank on a daily basis are getting longer. Obviously, with the difficult economic environment that we have, there’s an increase in prices at the gas station, at the grocery stores," explained DiCeglie.

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Meanwhile, Metropolitan Ministries was the partnering food bank for Hillsborough County. Volunteers sorted through 21,000 pounds of non-perishables at the USPS Interbay collection center.

"It makes it convenient; people can just put it out by their mailbox, let the carriers pick it up, bring it to a collection point. We do the work, and then it’s done in one day," Metro Ministries Volunteer Bob Kozyra said. "There’s people that need it. It’s something that I enjoy doing."

Kozyra said Saturday's collections will most likely be saved for the busy holiday season.

All Faiths Food Bank in Sarasota County also participated in the event.

For more information on Stamp Out Hunger, click here.

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