Food Bank of South Jersey Holds 27th Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

The Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ) recently partnered with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) for Stamp Out Hunger®, the country’s largest single-day food drive. The event collected more than 180,000 pounds for the Food Bank of South Jersey.

The FBSJ distributed 200,000 bags to local residents, who supported the drive by filling the bags with non-perishable food items and leaving them next to their mailboxes or on their front porches for their letter carrier to pick up and deliver to the FBSJ. In South Jersey, food insecurity affects nearly 200,000 residents – including 20,000 seniors and 57,000 children.

“This drive has truly shown how amazing the South Jersey community is for stepping up and helping their neighbors in need,” said Fred Wasiak, President & CEO, Food Bank of South Jersey. “All of us at the Food Bank of South Jersey truly appreciate the hard work that the United States Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers put in to continue to make this drive bigger and better than the year before. Special thanks to our sponsors for their support and for helping to make year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive so successful.”

This year’s event sponsors included: Virtua, Aetna, Westmont Associates, Inc., ShopRite, RLS Logistics, State Farm, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jefferson Health and Inductotherm.

Stamp Out Hunger is a nationwide food drive held in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Over the past 26 years the event has raised nearly 1.6 billion pounds of food. It remains as important as ever, with many people facing economic struggles. Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1: Stamp Out Hunger sponsors gathered with Fred Wasiak, President & CEO, Food Bank of South Jersey at kickoff event: Aetna, Westmont Associates, Inc., ShopRite, RLS Logistics, State Farm, and Jefferson Health.

Photo 2: Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the Food Bank of South Jersey and event sponsors make the first official Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive donation.

Photo 3: Boxes of donated food, collected by US Postal Letter Carriers, are unloaded from trucks.

Photo 4: Food Bank of South Jersey volunteers unload and sort through the boxes of donated food.

About the Food Bank of South Jersey

The Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ) is the leader in providing safe and nutritional food to people in need throughout South Jersey. FBSJ distributes food, provides nutrition education and cooking courses, and helps food-insecure families and seniors find sustainable ways to improve their lives.

In 2018, FBSJ provided over 10 million pounds of food to approximately 200,000 South Jersey residents. Providing community impact through local support, FBSJ ensures that local donations stay local. FBSJ is a member of Feeding America, our nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. To learn more, visit www.foodbanksj.org.