Letter Carriers Food Drive
Over 70 volunteers and Darlington Post Office staff teamed up to “Stamp Out Hunger” during the 27th Annual Letter Carriers Food Drive, held Saturday, May 11. Darlington area residents placed non-perishable food items in signature blue bags, which were collected, weighed and transported to The Lord Cares food bank.
Volunteers then sorted the food by date, removed expired items (which were donated to a local hog farmer), and replenished the food bank pantry.
“Everybody gets really excited about this,” said letter carrier Alice McMillan. “There’s kind of a friendly competition among the carriers to see which route donates the most, so I’ve been encouraging all my people to be sure and fill their bags up and don’t forget to leave them out!”
Each year the Darlington “Stamp Out Hunger” drive collects and donates about 12,000 pounds of food to The Lord Cares, which helps the food bank keep up with increased needs. “We really rely on food drives to get us through,” said Frank Helms of The Lord Cares. “About 80 percent of our donations, we get through food drives done by churches, schools and special ones like this one the Post Office does.” — Samantha Lyles
Photos by Samantha Lyles
