Carriers to collect donation of food
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on May 4, 2016 1:46 PM
For the 23rd year, Wayne County's letter carriers will collect food for the hungry.
The annual Letter Carriers Food Drive will take place May 14.
"We are asking people to put nonperishable foods in their mailbox, and the letter carriers will pick it up," said food drive coordinator Clifford Barker. "We will be giving those on our routes bags and cards the week of the food drive to remind them about it."
Barker is asking residents to put food in the bags and place it back in their mailbox the day of the drive.
"If you have too much for the mailbox, you can sit it beside the mailbox or leave a note for the carrier to come to your door and pick it up," Barker said. "We'll take care of that."
The letter carriers are looking for nonperishable foods that are not expired, but no glass.
"We get all kinds of stuff," Barker said. "Just think of what you would need for a meal and donate that, like a can of spaghetti sauce and a box of spaghetti. We also need items for children like cereal or juice boxes. That helps a lot."
Goldsboro's two post offices will also have hampers out in their lobbies a week before and a week after the food drive where patrons who go inside may drop off food.
Last year, the drive collected 28, 275 pounds of food, Barker said. This year's goal is 25,000 pounds.
"Hopefully, we can surpass that," he said.
After the letter carriers return to the post offices with food they've collected on their routes throughout the day, the food will be loaded onto trucks and taken to six agencies to be distributed to the hungry. They include United Church Ministries, Community Soup Kitchen, Salvation Army, HGDC Community Crisis Center, Wayne Uplift Domestic Violence Shelter and Society St. Vincent de Paul.
"What we collect goes to food pantries and they either make a meal of it or bag it up for a family's needs," Barker said.
In addition to the postal personnel, other volunteers will be needed to help sort and load the food onto the trucks. Barker is also asking for someone to donate a box truck and for a volunteer drive for that day to help distribute the food.
Barker said the post office pumps up its letter carriers the morning of the food drive by giving them a little pep talk. And representatives from some of the agencies are on hand to tell the carriers why the food they will be collecting is so important.
"And Krispy Kreme donates about six dozen donuts for each post office that morning," Barker said.
"We've got a need for food out there," he said. "People need food. Being on the streets every day, we see it."
Barker said the receiving agencies are very appreciative of the food the letter carriers collect.
"They thank us and sometimes will make cookies and send to the carriers," he said.
Barker has been coordinating Wayne County's food drive for 17 years, but next year will hand the reins over to someone else.
"When we started it, they needed a coordinator, so I said I would," Barker said. "It's been fun and good to know I've been doing something to help the community. But it's time to pass the torch on to somebody else. If they need help, I'll still be there to help them."