FOOD DRIVE: Helping to stamp out hunger

Local News

Related Photos

James Neiss/staff photographer getting ready: U.S. Postal Carrier Carl Nowakowski delivers mail Thursday on Hennepin Avenue. This Saturday, letter carriers will be doing more than just delivering mail. They and volunteers will be picking up food during its 17th annual drive.

May 8, 2009

By Leslie Church The Niagara Gazette Fri May 08, 2009, 12:40 AM EDT

Mail boxes will be filled with more than letters and Mother’s Day cards this Saturday. The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is holding its 17th annual food drive, the largest single-day food drive in the country.

Last year the Niagara community alone collected 170,000 pounds of food, helping to make Western New York the second largest food collector in the drive for 2008, with 2 million pounds. The previous five years, the Buffalo and Niagara area was number one in the nation.

“Niagara County usually leads the way,” said Phil Buffone, vice president of the Niagara United Way, which works with the NALC and U.S. Postal Service to put on the food drive.

“Our Niagara community is very generous. People recognize the need out there. They recognize that there is a great and growing number of working poor in our community and people once in a while need that helping hand.”

To participate, residents need only carry a few extra items on their morning shuffle to the end of the driveway. A bag of non-perishables such as canned fruit, meat and vegetables, as well as personal hygiene products, can be placed next to the mailbox.

The letter carrier then picks up the donations on his or her regular route, and takes them back to the post office where volunteers from 12 food agencies and pantries in the Niagara area are standing by for the hand off.

“There’s no middle man,” Buffone said. “So the food goes directly from your mailbox to letter carrier and from the letter carrier to the food pantry. It never leaves this community.”

Trucks are filled with bags of the much-needed donations and taken back to kitchens where they’ll be made into hot meals for hungry Niagara residents.

Community Missions at 1570 Buffalo Ave. served up 60,000 meals last year in their dining room, which is open six days a week all year long. Grant Babcock, director of operations at the mission, said donations start to wane in the summer months.

“This fills a huge gap for us because without this, by June our pantry shelves would be very bare. I know it’s a lot of hard work. I hope they know how much we appreciate their efforts,” Babcock said of the postal workers who run the food drive.

While the letter carriers are used to lugging around sacks of mail, the added weight of cans of food makes the job more difficult. The post offices of the Niagara area are asking for volunteers to help their neighborhood mail person carry the goods back to the postal truck. Pulling a wagon or wheelbarrow alongside the letter carrier will help lighten their load.

“There’s always a need for extra hands because it’s gotten so enormous that it’s gotten hard for our letter carriers to carry the mail and gather food at same time,” said Walt Wrazin of the LaSalle post office and co-chair of the drive.

Volunteers are also in need at the post office to help load food onto trucks. To lend a hand or get more information call your local post office or the United Way of Niagara at 285-8461.

Those who don’t have cans to spare can write a check to United Way of Niagara, 3000-Military Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14304. All money received will go towards the purchase of food.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local News

Falls cops arrest pot and heroin dealers
February 10, 2012 2 Photos
Staff cuts, large tax increase being considered to fill N-W's $10.M deficit
February 10, 2012
Police searching for jewelry thief caught on tape
February 10, 2012 1 Photo
Child run over be car on Niagara Avenue
Falls Traffic Division investigators said an 11-year-old boy was struck after he darted into the street, in front of a car as it pulled away from a stop sign.

February 9, 2012 2 Photos
Gerber resigns from SPCA board; calls for adding veterinarian to staff
A Town of Niagara veterinarian and long-time member of the SPCA of Niagara Board of Directors has stepped down.
Dr. William Gerber submitted his resignation on Tuesday. It was effective immediately.

February 9, 2012
Militello paid $50K to leave Niagara-Wheatfield
Former Niagara-Wheatfield Superintendent Carl Militello is receiving a $50,000 from the district, according to a separation settlement agreed to on Feb. 1.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Joseph Davis State Park gets some green
Officials in the Town of Lewiston received approval Thursday to spend a significant portion of the community’s incoming greenway funds on the redevelopment of Joseph Davis State Park.

February 9, 2012 5 Photos
Has NYPA relicensing agreement led to a revival?
A state senator is calling for an audit of the low-cost power and cash used in the last seven years by Niagara County entities that have shared in the benefits of the 50-year relicensing agreement with the New York Power Authority.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Autopsy unable to determine cause or time of Judith Burr’s death
An autopsy by an Erie County Medical Examiner has failed to determine either the time of death or the cause of death of Judith Burr.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Search continues for Falls jumper
State Park Police were still searching Thursday for a Falls man who jumped from the rapids bridge at Goat Island on Wednesday morning.

February 9, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Do you think cigarette sales to non-Native American customers should be taxed on reservations?